This time, Wendel's mum had a different sickness. And the herbs I brought her made her sleep. So, no spending the afternoon at the sickbed of a nice old lady. I instead decided to wander through the village and see what I could learn.
It was one of those days where big clouds scudded across the sky, making it dark one minute and sunny the next. A few of the clouds drizzled. During one of these spells, I took shelter in a barn. There was a young man tending to some pigs along with an older, rougher-looking man.
I watched the pigs rooting in the straw for food that they had pushed out of their troughs. The extra eyes looked especially unnerving for some reason on them.
The younger man was using a crude funnel to listen to a pig that was lying on its side, ignored by the others.
"It's just a touch of apple belly." The young man said, standing up.
"She'll be alright though, won't she?" The older man asked, wiping his brow.
"Oh, she will be fine. Don't let her out into the orchard until she's had her piglets. Keep her quiet and she should keep the pregnancy."
Seemed the young man was an animal doctor. I watched the downed pig with sympathy. It wasn't real, but it was panting like it was in real pain. I wouldn't put it past the system to make the livestock feel pain just because. This system was a bastard.
"That would be a real shame if she lost the pigglets, but I'm more concerned about Petunia herself." The farmer reached down and scratched the pig's ear."
"I can give you a tonic for her. It will make her rest more comfortably," The vet said.
"That would be mighty good of you."
"I will be right back." The vet said and walked out, presumably to get or make said tonic.
The farmer knelt there, stroking the pig. The other pigs came over and nuzzled him. This was awfully wholesome for a farmer and future bacon.
"Why six eyes?" I asked him as a pig tried to eat the end of my belt. I pushed it away, still freaked being faced with six little piggy eyes in one head.
"What do you mean, Miss?" The farmer asked, as if strange women taking shelter from the rain in his barn and asking him random questions was a normal everyday occurrence. Who knows? Maybe it was if there were other players about.
"All the animals in your land have six eyes. Yet all the people have two."
He looked at me like I was touched in the head. "Yes, miss. Do the people of other lands you have visited have more eyes?"
"No, the animals in my lands have two eyes."
"All of them?" He seemed shocked and a bit horrified.
I paused. Were insects animals? Was the distinction important? As a side thought, I made a point that I needed to look at the bugs of this land more closely.
"Um, most of them," I replied.
He shuddered. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, Miss, but that sounds very unsettling."
The vet came back, and the two used a drench to force the tonic into Petunia, who was surprisingly vigorous in her insistence that she did not want the medicine for a sick pig. I helped hold her still by kneeling on her haunches.
"Thank you so much. You aren't from the village. You have the look of a traveller." Said the vet.
"Yes, I just arrived today. I made a delivery to Wendel's mom." I hoped maybe he would have a quest for me. I wanted to try to see if I could level up before I saw those bandits again.
"Ah, that is good. I looked in on her just yesterday. I was out of the herbs she needed."
Was he the vet and the doctor? That made a kind of sense for a village of this size.
"Is it hard to get the herbs you need for medicine?"
"Sometimes yes. I am always on the lookout for plants or crafting items."
I had that greater rabbit ear in my inventory.
"Do you buy items?" I asked.
"I would if I could, traveller." He shook his head. "Sadly, I don't get paid in coins very often. Most of the farmers and people around here pay me in goods and services. So I am mighty short on coins."
"Would you want a rabbit ear?" No point haggling till I found out if he even wanted it.
He brightened. "Those are very useful. Do you have some?"
"I have one. Can we trade for it?"
His face fell. "I don't know what I would have that you could want."
I thought for a moment. "What do you know of bandits on the road?"
"Only that they are a scourge of the land. I wish the King would take the safe travel of his subjects more seriously. Why do you ask?"
"I need to get past them. They ride these huge horses. But they aren't like work horses."
I remembered my years of horse camp as a girl. The faster a horse looked like it could run, the more likely it was to randomly start running. "Is there a way to spook them? Make them gallop off and let me escape?"
The village doctor looked thoughtful. "They are likely trained to be used to normal loud noises."
I nodded. I had screamed at the end, and the horse hadn't even hesitated before it struck me down.
"And I am not sure how much they are frightened by sight. Horses have terrible eyesight. So smell or something unusual, that they haven't seen before, Hmm"
He looked at the straw at his feet and thought for a bit.
"I have an idea."
The rain was coming down hard, the road dark with puddles. I had killed more rabbits before the skies opened, and leveling up I chose CRIPPLING BLOW again this round. I quite liked it last time and was in no mood to change it up before I met up with the bandits again.
Unfortunately the weather hadn't deterred them; there they were on the road, their horses steaming in the rain.
This time, there were only two. So the number of bandits was part of the random generation, but not the bandits as a game mechanic. I was starting to figure out how this game worked. It seemed that some encounters were scripted but elements about the encounter could be random.
I didn't look sickly this time, so they rode right up to me and demanded my money.
I hoped the idea the doctor had was a good one.
One greater bunny ear had garnered me a favour from the doctor and +1 reputation with the town. He told me to go see the blacksmith as his apprentice liked to dabble in alchemy. The doctor had recently helped the apprentice's father with a bunion and passed that favour on to me.
The apprentice had made me a little pouch. It looked like nothing impressive. But when I put it in my inventory, it was labelled as a flashbang. I had learnt I could focus on an item and it would give me basic details.
LEVEL ONE BOMB - Flash bang 30% chance to stun.
I tapped my chest. Found it in my list, held my hand out and concentrated. I felt the rough cotton bag form in my palm. I had been told that throwing it with force would set it off. Dropping it shouldn't set it off. However, the apprentice had seemed a bit unsure which had made me quickly put it in my inventory. I hoped the wet road wouldn't affect it.
Before they could decide to pull weapons or ride me down, I flung it down right at their horse's front hooves.
CRAAAACK!
I had expected more of a boom, but I was prepared for the flash and had my hands over my ears and my eyes squeezed shut. Even with these precautions, I still felt a bit dazed.
The horses freaked.
One reared up, slipped and landed on its rider. The other spun and took off running as if all the hounds of hell were on its tail. I could hear the rider yelling at his horse to 'whoa' as the thundering sound of the hooves faded in the distance.
The other horse had the reins still tangled in his hand. The horse, in its panic, stepped on the man a few times, but the man never moved. Not a man, I decided, not any more—now just a body. His head had an odd, misshapen look to it. I don't know if that happened during the fall or if his mount had kicked his skull in.
The horse danced and snorted, dragging the man a few feet, trying to leave to join its friend running back home. The body freaked me out, but I didn't want the horse to run off so I stepped forward.
I wanted a mount.
Moving towards the horse I make hushing noises and telling it if it was a good boy. I had no idea if it was, a boy that is, and I wasn't going to bend down and check. I managed to snag the reins and jerked at them until they untangled from the corpse.
I lead the horse away from the body. Neither of us seemed to like it. I was petting the horse when I heard a noise behind me. I spun. Was he alive? Could he turn into a zombie or other terrible joke?
The body was gone. What was left behind must have been what was in his inventory. Well, well wasn't that was a tidy solution.
I went over and looked at the pile on the ground. There were coins. I picked them up and put them in my inventory. I now had eleven silver and twenty-nine copper. There was a sword, a little bottle of red liquid and a ring.
What was I going to do with the sword? I already had the club. I picked the sword up. It felt all wrong and bad in my hand. It felt unwieldy in a way that let me know the game wasn't going to let me be good at it when I was spec'd for a club.
The little bottle of red liquid was labelled 'potion of lesser healing' when I tossed it in my inventory. I was pleased to know healing potions existed. That town doctor hadn't given me a lot of confidence.
I sighed, and the horse snorted. He didn't seem to want to wait out in the rain with me. I could sell the sword. The horse danced and splashed me as I wrapped the sword in my tent and tied the bundle to the back of the saddle along with my pack.
Now, the issue was going to be getting on the horse. It was bigger than any horse I had ridden before. And I had had a mounting block to get on those. I looked up at the saddle. This horse was at least 17hh.
I dragged him, and I checked--it was a him, to the edge of the forest and used a rock so my foot could reach the stirrup.
The horse snorted at me, but stood fairly politely as I hopped and jumped to get my foot lodged in the stirrup. I hauled myself up into the saddle. He kept standing as I found the other stirrup with my right foot. I sighed, ok. This was good. I bet I could make the Road's Cross in no time with him. I was a bit rusty, but riding a horse was like riding a bike, right? Once you know how, you will always know.
I reached forward to pat his neck, then straightened. I squeezed gently with my calves, asking him politely to step on.
He emphatically said no.
He said no for a few hundred feet till I came off. Then he continued bucking until he had rid himself of my tent and sword. I watched him gallop off into the night to go find his buddy.
I tried to stand, but my leg didn't work quite right. I must have sprained something on my unscheduled dismount. I guess I was trying that potion of lesser healing.
It tasted really good. A bit overly sweet, but like a fine wine. Yes, there was an faint alcohol flavour. I sipped a bit slowly. It was complex and fruity. I wiggled my foot as I sat there on the wet gravel. Maybe I had to drink the whole thing. Well, if the system insisted.
My ankle started to feel better rapidly after I finished it off. Unfortunately my but and shoulder that I landed on still hurt. Maybe it used all its healing on my ankle? I wished I had another one.
I walked over and picked up my tent, and the sky opened up. I started walking down the road. I was soaked, and now my new footwear was giving me blisters. I kept limping along, the wind picked up, and thunder rumbled.
I decided to make camp. I walked off the road and found a relatively flat grassy area and opened the roll.
Putting up the tent was difficult. It was dark, and the poles were confusing. I should have tried setting it up in the daylight at least once. After much struggle and even more cussing I got it set up and looked at it.
Why was there a slit in it?
The sword. Fuck.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I crawled in.
It was bad.
The rain dripped steadily into the tent.
A crack of thunder shook the ground, and the wind tried to lift the tent off the ground. I lay there shivering, my shoulder and hip getting more sore as the night went on. Why did I have to feel cold or wet? Only a sadist would program this into a game. I felt very small and very sorry for myself. I thought of warm feather beds, and that made me think of Wendel and Richard. They wouldn't remember me the next time they saw me. I would have to do this all over again. How many times would I have to do this?
I began to cry. I curled up in a ball, trying to hoard any warmth. Why me?
The tent started to flood. That was the last straw.
I burst out of the tent, causing it to collapse in the small pond that the clearing was becoming. I stared up at the sky as it was split over and over again with lightning.
Well, if it hit me, at least those stones in the plains were hot and, more importantly, dry.
I screamed into the wind.
"I CAN'T DO THIS."
"I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS"
I spun, trying in vain to catch eyes in the sky watching. Someone had to be watching.
"I WANT OUT. I HATE YOUR STUPID FUCKING GAME."
I fell to my knees with a squelch in the muddy grass.
"I just want to go home."
"I hate this game. There is nothing in here I want."
"Please let me out," I whispered to the raindrops as they splashed, rejoining their friends as puddles.
I sat there till I felt stupid.
Then I got up and started walking towards Road's Cross. The road dipped into a low-lying area, which turned it into a ribbon of mire. Every step sank and sucked, leaving boot prints that filled instantly with little silver puddles. At the edges, the wet grass slumped over like it had given up on ever being upright again. I have never vibed so hard with grass before.
If I were lucky, the lightning would hit me.