BladeDust Online: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1) Page 12
Ronald looked surprised. “Thank you,” he replied. “Thank you very much.”
For a moment, I almost let Ronald fool me. But then, my photographic memory replayed a memory inside of my head. Ronald was actually the one that wanted my head to pop. Yea, I remembered now. Sure, he was nice now that his little buddies were dead. But, I knew the real Ronald. Oh yes I did. The Ronald who wanted to see my head stomped into the ground. And for that, I could never forgive him.
The old man began to pace back and forth as I examined his home. It was very basic. Just a little square room with a pile of beans in the corner. I guess the guy really loved beans, because there were more beans than I had ever seen in my life. The beans weren't even in a bag. They were just piled up. “Take a seat on the floor,” the old man said with his hand out.
We all sat down on his dirty floor. Then, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. There was a tiny beetle on the floor struggling to drag a bean. I shook my head. How could this beetle live such a depressing lifestyle? Did his whole life consist of stealing the old man's bean supply? If so, it truly was a sad life he was living. I didn't know and I didn't want to think about it anymore. I looked up at the old man as he began to talk. “How much gold do you have?”
“More than enough,” Cosmo replied.
The old man laughed. “You were just here not long ago. You are working quick these days aren't you?”
A strange look came to Cosmo's face. “Let's make this quick. Do you have what I need?”
The old man stood up. He walked over to a large wooden chest and opened it. “You should really buy these ahead of time,” he replied while holding a bottle in the air. “It would save you a lot of time. Then ya wouldn't have to backtrack so much would ya?”
I examined the bottle in the old man's hand. What was it? It looked like some sort of potion. Blue liquid that sparkled. “What is that?”
Cosmo walked over to the old man and snatched it. “Nothing,” he replied with a stutter. “Just a basic health potion. That's all.”
There was something odd about the tone of his voice. My gut instinct was telling me that he was lying. But why? Why would he lie about that? “So, that is a healing potion?”
“Yea. Just basic stuff,” Cosmo quickly replied.
“I've never seen a healing potion that looks like that,” Ronald replied.
Cosmo laughed. “Why is he even here? Who brought him here?”
“I did. He had nowhere to go. It was either with us, or the Soul Flies.”
“Either way would have been fine with me,” Cosmo casually replied.
Ronald put one hand on my shoulder. “I'm thankful that you let me come with you. I won't forget it.”
“No problem,” I replied. “What about the weapons? We are going to get weapons right?”
“We need some of your basics,” Cosmo yelled to the old man. “Just some basic swords and armor. Nothing too fancy. Just something to beef up a few peasants.”
The old man reached back down into his chest. Then, he dropped a few swords on the ground. One sword was long and had a golden handle. Another was short, but thicker and had a wooden handle. Lastly, there was a sword with a red handle. In the middle of the handle was a blue stone. “That's awesome looking,” I said.
“Go ahead,” Cosmo replied while pointing at it. “You can have it.”
“Really? But, how much gold is it?”
“Don't worry. I got you covered.”
Wow. Was he serious? “Thank you! This is gonna be so great.”
I grabbed the sword and opened my inventory. I equipped it and checked out the stats:
MistStone Long Sword
Slot: Left or Right Hand
Level: 3 (Beginner)
Weight: 9 lbs
Damage: 19
Hell yea! 19 damage? That was pretty good. I held the sword next to me and smiled. “I can't wait to use this.”
“We will be using it soon enough,” Cosmo replied.
“But how can you afford this all? How much gold do you have?”
“This man owes me a favor. Isn't that right?”
The old man looked at the ground and then back up at Cosmo. “He's getting an extreme discount. He's a frequent customer here. Always coming back for the same thing. Isn't that right?”
Cosmo didn't answer. Instead, he got back to business. “I want 3 MistStones and 7 Crest Swords. Deal?”
“You got it,” the old man replied. “How about armor?”
Cosmo chuckled. “You want me to buy everything you got don't you? What sort of hookup can you give me?”
“I already gave you a “hookup” on your main purchase. You know, what you really came here for,” the old man replied with a devious laugh. “But, I will give you the armor for a good rate if you take ten of them. But, only my iron's. I have too many as it is right now. Half of what you normally pay for 10 pieces? Sound good?”
Cosmo seemed flustered. “Yea. That'll work. Just drop them and I'll take them.”
There was a weird energy in the air. I didn't know what it was, but something was odd. The old man dropped ten pairs of the same type of iron armor on the floor. “Grab one,” Cosmo commanded.
I had to admit, it was exciting. It was exciting to have my first sword and first piece of armor. “I appreciate it,” I replied while grabbing a pair.
I opened my inventory to equip and check out the stats:
Basic Iron Armor
Slot: Chest and arms
Level: 2 (Beginner)
Weight: 23 lbs
Defense: 06
Nice. I equipped it. Wow. I was instantly wearing a shiny piece of iron armor. I hit it with my hand. Yep, felt pretty sturdy. I actually had some defense now. I felt certain that a rat could never hurt me again. And for that, I was grateful.
“What about me? Don't I get some stuff?” Tommy asked from behind me.
“Grab a sword and piece of armor,” Cosmo replied.
Tommy looked excited as he grab the items. I looked at Ronald. Did I really want to give him anything? After the way he had taunted me? I didn't know. But maybe, he could actually be useful? Perhaps I could turn him into a vicious little warrior? It was possible. Still, I didn't like the idea of giving him a weapon. Not yet at least. We began to exit the old man's shack. Just as we opened the door, the old man yelled something to Cosmo. “Bring some more back, will ya?”
Cosmo didn't answer as we exited the shack.
Chapter Sixteen
“What did the old man mean?” I asked. “When he asked you to bring some more back?”
“He's half crazy,” Cosmo replied before changing the subject. “Keep an eye out for the Soul Flies. They might still be around.”
Oh shit. I had forgotten about those guys. Ronald walked next to me. I slowed down and let him get slightly in front of me. Yes, he would be a good shield in case another arrow came our way. I hated to think that way, but if it was going to be me or him, I wanted it to be him. Besides, he probably secretly wanted me dead. There was no way he went from hating me to actually liking me. He was sneaky. A very sneaky little guy. But, he wasn't going to fool me. My eyes scanned the area as we continued to walk down the shallow creek. We walked for another fifteen minutes before I realized something. Didn't we need a lot of health potions or even a healer? How was our army of peasants going to survive without a healer or health potions? “How many health potions do we have?”
“I don't have many. How about you?” Cosmo asked.
“None.”
“I got nothing,” Tommy replied.
“Me either,” Ronald said.
“We'll pick some up on the way. There is a small trading community not far from the peasant village.”
We walked towards a set of snow covered mountains. They were massive. Then, something wet hit me. Then again, and again. “It's starting to rain,” I said while holding my hand out.
“Great. We'll need to hurry. I hate it when it rains here,” Cosmo replied.
“Hardly ever. It's such a pain when it does though.”
We began to run. “How far are we from the trading village.”
“Maybe a mile. A mile and a half at most.”
“Wait. Wait up guys,” Tommy replied while huffing and puffing.
“You gotta watch your stamina bar. Make sure it never hits the bottom,” I replied with irritation.
“Hey. I think my stamina just leveled up!” Tommy yelled with bright eyes.
I laughed as I knew the feeling. “Great. Now maybe you can keep up better.”
I held my hand out and noticed that the rain had come to an end. Cosmo looked at me. “See. It usually doesn't last that long.”
I looked around. The land had become dry, flat and dusty. Only small dead weeds were clustered together throughout the dirt. All of a sudden, a new message alert popped up in front of me:
“Are you on your way? Did you get the Astral Dust yet? Please let me know asap. I am ready to get back to my body. It's pure hell being a lost soul.
Todd”
“Just got a message from Todd,” I said.
“Who's Todd?” Cosmo asked.
“Sorry. I never told you his name. That's the friend we are going to rescue. The lost soul.”
Cosmo didn't answer. He just continued to walk.
I messaged Todd Back:
“Don't have the Astral Dust yet but we are working on it. Hang on tight! Will be there soon!
Walker”
“We have barely eaten anything,” Tommy said.
“That's true,” I replied. “I'm actually getting really hungry.”
“We'll grab something at the trading community,” Cosmo replied. “It's right across the bridge.”
With the land being so flat, you could see much further than normal. About five minutes away, was a long wooden bridge going across a narrow river. In between us and the bridge, I noticed a character walking towards us with a backpack on. Closer and closer the character got until he was right up on us. “Hello there,” he said with a cheerful tone.
It was hard to tell if he was an actual player or just an NPC. All he wore was brown shorts and a white shirt covered in dirt. “You can't happen to help me can you?”
“With what?” I asked.
“Someone stole my horse. That horse was my best friend and now it's gone. If you kill the horse thief I can give you some gold. What do ya say?”
Suddenly, an alert message popped up in front of me:
Quest Invitation!
Kill a Horse Thief! Accept or Decline? Yes/No?
Okay. He was an NPC. It could be so confusing sometimes because they seemed so real. Did I want to take a quest? I wanted to, I really did. But, I just didn't have time for it. Maybe later. I chose no.
“That's not a good quest anyways,” Cosmo replied. “Just a stupid side quest that probably won't pay anything.”
I nodded. He was right. It actually sounded pretty lame. We began to walk across the bridge. On the way across, I couldn't help but stop and look over the edge. Below me, I saw some strange looking fish swimming around. “Wow, look at those fish! They actually have faces.”
“Strange isn't it? I remember the first time I saw them. I was kinda freaked out. One of the fish looked just like my uncle.”
At the end of the bridge, there were two large oak trees. The trees blew in the wind as a few acorns fell off them. At the bottom of the tree, a small chipmunk eagerly awaited for each nut to drop. Every time a nut fell, he would jump up and down with excitement. What a simple minded little creature he was. I couldn't help but wonder how it must feel to be so excited about a nut falling off a tree. After I got bored of looking at the chipmunk, we walked past the trees and into the trading community. At the entrance, there was a small half broken sign that said “SideBlade.”
“I like the name SideBlade,” I said while looking around. In front of us, was a long stone road. On each side of the road, were dozens of different tents and merchant stands.
We walked down the road and carefully examined each merchant. One was selling apples, while another was selling smoked turkey legs. The smell of turkey being cooked was too much to resist. “How much?” I asked.
“0.10 gold,” the merchant replied.
I didn't want to spend my gold, but I needed food. “I'll take one.”
After that, Cosmo and Ronald also bought a turkey leg each. But, Tommy didn't. “Do you have any gold?” I asked.
“Not much,” Tommy replied.
I knew Tommy had some gold, but I was in a generous mood. “Give me another one for my friend,” I told the merchant.
The merchant handed Tommy the leg. Suddenly, he ran behind the tent like a wild animal. None of us talked as we all began to eat our food. For that moment, all we cared about was eating our turkey leg. After I finished eating I decided to see how much my health went up. 7/10? It went up 1 point? I guess it was better than nothing.
We left the food merchant and began to look for a healing merchant. My head spun around in all directions trying to locate one. Not far from me, I saw a short chubby man wearing a tight yellow robe. His hair was sandy brown and cut in the “bowl cut” style. He wore large brown boots and had a smirk on his face. I walked closer to him and waved. “Can I purchase some healing potions from you?”
“Healing potions?” he asked with a laugh. “I don't use healing potions. I channel the energy into the pit of my stomach. Why would I need a bucket of water when I have the hosepipe?”
Wait? If this guy was an actual healer, we could use him in our army. “So are you a healer?”
“Yes I am,” he replied. “I've healed every single living creature before. Humans, elves and even a chicken.”
“Could you bring yourself back to life if you died?” Tommy asked.
The healer laughed. “Of course. I would just channel the energy into my soul. I never let anything die.”
He was a bit odd, but he seemed pretty confident in his abilities. “We need your help. Will you help us?”
“The world needs my help,” the healer replied with a serious look. “I cannot help everyone who simply needs my help.”
“I will give you 7 gold coins to join us,” Cosmo said. “Plus an opportunity for a permanent position in our growing army.”
The healer frowned. “You cannot put a price on what I offer. Because what I offer, is life itself.”
What level was this guy? I looked at his display name and level:
Sonny The Healer – Level 34
Human Male – Mage
A level 34? That was pretty high. “It's impressive that you can heal anything. That's exactly what we need.”
“Yes, I am pretty impressive,” Sonny replied with a proud look.
Cosmo walked towards him. “10 gold coins, take it or leave it.”
“I'll leave it,” Sonny replied with his chin into the air.
“Bye,” Cosmo said as he turned and began to walk away.
“Wait!” Sonny yelled.
“Yes?”
“12 gold coins and I am your guy.”
Cosmo laughed. “Fair enough. I can let go of 12. So you will come with us?”
“Yes. I want to see the gold. Show me the gold, and I will come.”
Cosmo threw 12 gold coins on to the ground. “Those are mine,” Sonny yelled in a panic while dropping to both of his knees. He frantically grabbed all the coins and put them into his inventory. “This will be enough to get me started,” he said.
We began to leave his tent. But then, he held both hands into the air. “Wait one second. I just gotta get something very important to me.”
Sonny rushed into his tent and began to search for something. There were loud thuds and crashing noises. “I know he's in here somewhere,” he yelled. “Just wait one second guys. I gotta find my pet.”
His pet? Why was it so hard to find his pet? In my mind, I couldn't help but imagine some poor creature hiding in a corner
praying that his owner didn't find him. I didn't know why, but it just seemed like it wouldn't be pleasant to live with someone like Sonny.
“Here he is,” Sonny yelled from inside his tent. “I finally found him. He's a sneaky little fellar.”
Sonny waddled out of his tent while holding a small furry creature over his head. The creature was brown, had yellow eyes and long pointy ears. By the look on it's face, I would say it was very unhappy with it's life. “Put me down,” the creature yelled.