An Unexpected Mission

  The rising sun brought a new day for all of the inhabitants of the inn. Artyom awoke to the crowing of a rooster, feeling fully refreshed and ready to continue his mission. When a mission’s first day isn’t very stressful, Artyom usually took a few seconds to get used to his surroundings when waking up for the first time. The fact that it took him 15 was telling. Artyom didn’t fear when he considered this slip in his readiness, since he had placed wards around his room to magically detect and wake him up if there was any movement in the room or if the door or window were opened. Fairytale world or not, he didn’t take those kinds of risks.

  After some morning stretches and cleaning his teeth with a very convenient cleansing spell, he made his way downstairs for breakfast. He was the first one there, so he decided to take a seat at one of the tables and pass the time by checking out one of the board games. The only one he could make sense of was a game that looked a lot like checkers. By the time he had played half a game against himself, Ruba had come out and offered to get him a cup of tea, to which he obliged. It was always a coin flip whether or not a particular World would have coffee or not, and it looked like he lost the toss this time around.

  He was only a few sips into his strong, milky tea when the other members of the party came down, clearly taking their time to get ready for the day.

  “Good morning, Artyom!” said Sae. “I’m glad to see you up early, Pireni here thought you’d be the type to sleep in until noon!”

  “I didn’t say that!” said Pireni, slightly embarrassed. “I just asked what his morning routine was, and whether he’d be ready to roll out so we could get back before dinner?”

  It sounded like a very roundabout excuse, and the faces of the other party members said as such. Even with Skeya!

  “Well anyway, that shouldn’t be something to worry about, so let’s forget about that and get down to business,” said Artyom, assuaging her previous fears and easing her embarrassment.

  “Alright then,” said Sae, taking a seat across from Artyom and motioning the others to join them in the remaining seats. “Let’s go over the team rules first.”

  “Of course you’d start with the boring stuff,” complained Pereni. “Why can’t we start with the mission?”

  “Because he won’t be a real member unless he agrees to the rules,” replied Sae. “Sorry about that, Artyom, and for the fact that Pireni just spoiled the surprise.”

  Pireni began pouting while Sae continued.

  “There are really just two rules for now. First, the money we earn gets split evenly between all of us. Second, we vote on team decisions. Team decisions need at least half of us to vote yes on, with the team leader being the tiebreaker. That’s me by the way. Any decision that affects the people on a team directly, like adding a new member, needs everyone to vote yes. That’s why we let you join, everyone said yes.”

  “Alright, that makes sense. I’ll accept those terms,” replied Artyom.

  “See? It would’ve been faster if you’d just let me say it from the get-go!” whined Sae, trying to rub it into Pireni.

  “So… about that mission. I thought you were here just to kill the rats and get a new member?” asked Artyom.

  “Oh yeah! When the team came to Freeacres, we had two actual missions we wanted to take care of. The first was the rats, and the second is-”

  “The Bog Walker!” interrupted Pireni. Sae’s look of irritation made her flinch and scared Skeya into chanting a healing spell to use for what she thought would follow. Luckily, he calmed down before doing anything stupid, and took back hold of the conversation.

  “There’s a monster terrorizing the town, and by the descriptions that have been sent in from those who’ve seen it, it’s a Bog Walker. Now, Pireni, as our ranger, could you please fill Artyom in on what a Bog Walker is?” he finished, lingering frustration hidden behind a placid facade.

  “Alright! [Recall Monster]!” exclaimed Pireni. “The Bog Walker is a dreadful beast six feet long and four feet wide on average. It has matted brown fur that acts as a light armor that resists blunt attacks, and sharp teeth and claws it can use to tear through light armor and flesh. It can move surprisingly quickly and is very agile, making it a difficult foe for new adventurers.”

  It was as if she read that out of a textbook or bestiary word for word. Artyom figured that it must be the aptly named Skill she used.

  “Thank you, Pireni,” said Sae, having calmed down considerably. “It’s been spotted a few hour’s out, so we were hoping to be able to kill it and be back before dinner. Ruba has some rations for sale that you can buy, since we only have enough for the rest of us.”

  “Sorry, we didn’t expect you’d join us today,” apologized Skeya. “I can pay for your rations if you’d like.”

  “Don’t worry, that’s fine. I have plenty of money with me, and I’m sure the reward will cover the cost,” replied Artyom. Poor Skeya was too quick to appease. If this wasn’t a fairytale World, she would be taken advantage of left and right, especially with how adorable and innocent she looked.

  “Once you’re done buying and we eat breakfast, let’s head out!” said Sae, concluding the talk.

  Artyom finished his tea and ate some oatmeal sprinkled with fresh fruits and honey for his breakfast, before purchasing dried pemmican from Ruba. It was some kind of smoked venison or pork, filled with dried cherries. Artyom couldn’t help being bewildered by this town’s obsession with cherries. Or maybe it was just Ruba?

  With supplies purchased and on happy bellies, the party departed to the site of their next adventure. The trip was grueling, consisting of several hours of absolutely banal gossip featuring the lives of people Artyom never met and the rest of the team never bothered to tell him about, and the weather of temperate towns that could simply be summarized as “hot.” All of Artyom’s attempts to steer it towards something useful for his mission, or even something more entertaining, ended in abject failure. Eventually, their arrival put Artyom out of his misery.

  “Alright, this should be the place, where the Yarob river meets the Cerise river and the bridges over the two line up perfectly,” said Sae. Artyom had to admit, finding the spot based on such a specific detail was quite impressive. “Alright, Pireni, do your thing!”

  “Here we go, [Prey Tracker]!” she shouted. “I got this skill from leveling up last night! Sorry I forgot to tell you about it, Artyom, you were already down when I shared the news.”

  “That’s fine, I’m just glad to know you all have everything in the bag so far,” replied Artyom.

  The team followed Pireni as she made her way across one of the rivers and through much of the shrubbery that dotted the landscape.

  “Artyom, did you level up?” asked Skeya. “I prayed about what you said yesterday, and the Goddess told me that it was a test, and that you need to try a bit harder and pray some more, and you’ll definitely go up a level!”

  “As a matter of fact, I did! In [spellcaster] of course,” lied Artyom without missing a beat. After all of that advanced spellcraft on his first day here, especially in both combat and utility settings, any other system in the multiverse would have awarded him with a level, if not half a dozen. Either this system would require extensively grinding out experience for even a single level, or something else was at play. Seeing how casually the rest of the party described leveling up, he was inclined to believe it was the latter.

  “That’s good, I’m really happy for you, Artyom,” replied Skeya, with a warm smile on her face. She seemed to be more confident when talking to Artyom, which he was happy for.

  “It should be in the clearing right after this bush,” said Pireni, breaking Artyom out of his thoughts. “Everyone ready?”

  “Sure am!” whispered Sae, trying to hold back his excitement.

  “Hold on, what’s the plan?” asked Artyom, realizing that none of them had even discussed it with him this morning.

  “Same as with the rats,” replied Sae. “I rush the monster, Pireni shoots at it, and Skeya heals me up if I get hurt. You do your thing with making us stronger.”

  “That isn’t a plan, Sae. It worked for the rats but they’re just rats, this thing can be a serious-”

  Before Artyom could finish his sentence, Sae charged out of the bush and towards the seven-foot long Bog Walker, screaming his lungs out. The other two members followed him in a frantic run, while Artyom casually walked out of the bush, shaking his head and activating his strengthening spells.

  “Well, let’s go then, I guess,” he said with an exasperated sigh.