Reluctant Heroes Part 7

Dave sighed as he spotted a man 'hiding' behind a tree in the forest watching the group from about a hundred feet up the road. "There's someone hiding in the trees, one hundred feet out."

Myst pulled his attention away from the pair of temporary slippers he was working on to increase his Leatherworking and looked at the trees where Dave was looking. It wasn't particularly hard to spot the guy now that he was looking but he doubted he would have noticed if Dave hadn't said anything, even if he'd been paying attention. "Let Alice and Phil know."

Dave glanced over at Phil who was looking at the trees. "Phil's good," he said as he calmly turned and walked over to where Alice was talking to Zoe.

"Great, I was hoping to avoid bandits," Myst grumbled as he focused on the man hiding in the woods and scanned him. 'Backstab 6, Farming 2, Fire Starting 4, Hunting 3, Intimidate 6, Running 3, Sap 2, Stealth 2, Sword Proficiency 2, Wealth Scan 3. Backstab and Intimidate 6? You were probably an ass before you turned into a bandit.' He quickly copied the man's Sap and Farming skills as he doubted Dave would leave him alive if he charged the group.

Bethany tossed herself off the bench when she saw movement in the trees and realized someone was aiming a drawn arrow at them. "Ambush!" she shouted as an arrow buried itself in the driver's chest. She rolled away from the wagon's wheels as she didn't want to get run over.

Myst tumbled off the back of the wagon and dropped the skill orbs he'd just created when an arrow went right through his shitty chain shirt and into his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.

Sarah raised her hand and sent five shimmering balls of nearly invisible force rocketing towards the charging bandits. Her face turned a bit green when the balls exploded, reducing the dozen charging bandits to chunky salsa and obliterating their gear as well as flattening everything around them and heavily damaging some of the trees on the edge of the forest. "Fuck!"

Dave lowered his pistol and stared in disbelief at the destruction Sarah's spell had caused.

"Holy shit!" Phil swore as he scanned the trees for more bandits, feeling like he'd just missed getting hit by an artillery strike.

Rigby stared in horror at the destruction along with most of the cheerleaders.

Myst stared at the arrow stuck in his shoulder, trying not to pass out from the pain and glad that he hadn't landed on it when he hit the ground. "Does anyone have first aid training?"

Ella ignored the destruction and ran over to help her grandmother up off the ground. "Are you okay?!"

Bethany took a couple of seconds to make sure everything was working then stood up. She sighed as she looked at the dead driver she'd spent the trip talking with. "Better than Norbert."

"I've taken first aid classes," one of the cheerleaders offered.

"I have some rubbing alcohol in my bag," one of the other girls offered as she ran over to the wagon to get it, knowing you were supposed to sanitize cuts.

Dave pulled his attention off the destruction Sarah had caused and turned to the rest of the group. "Was anyone else hit?"

"No, I think we're okay," Vivian offered after doing a quick visual check of the other girls and Rigby.

"Good," Dave replied as he walked over to where Myst was standing. "Are you going to collapse if we pull it out?"

"No fucking clue!" Myst snapped, making a mental note to look for pain reduction skills.

"How many health points do you have left?" Dave asked as he studied the wound and the blood coming out of the wound.

Myst scowled as he looked at his health meter and realized the arrow had caused a bleeding effect that was 'slowly' draining his health. "Over half but I'm bleeding."

"That makes things easier, this might hurt," Dave warned him as he carefully grabbed the arrow.

"What!" Myst screamed as Dave quickly pulled the arrow out before he could protest.

"Relax, you have a healing spell," Dave said as he accepted the small bottle of rubbing alcohol from the teen. "Which means we just need to make sure the wound is cleaned."

Myst glared at Dave as his health meter started dropping as the bleeding increased. "You're a horrible fucking medic."

"And an asshole," Dave said as he poured a good dash of alcohol over the wound causing Myst's glare to intensify.

Myst used his healing spell on himself and sighed in relief as the pain vanished along with the wound. "Remind me not to get shot again."

"Yeah, I don't recommend it," Dave replied as he turned to look at the dead wagon driver that had fallen off the wagon. "At least that's one less group of bandits." He turned to look at Sarah who still looked a little green. "Special skill?"

"I wasn't expecting…" Sarah pulled her attention off the destruction, doing her best not to vomit.

"Salsa?" Dave asked as he glanced at the destruction.

'Yeah, that's nastier than I was expecting,' Myst thought as he worked on collecting the skill orbs he'd dropped when he'd fallen off the wagon.

Phil turned and looked at Sarah. "Please tell me that was a special skill, I really don't want to have to deal with that type of shit from every mage we run into."

"Special enough," Sarah replied as she pulled her attention away from the destruction she'd caused.

"Now what?" Ella asked nervously as she walked over with her grandmother.

Bethany glanced at her granddaughter. "The only thing we can do, bury him and continue on."

"Not to sound like the bad guy here but does anyone actually have a shovel?" Dave asked as he glanced around the group that quite obviously didn't have a shovel.

Bethany reached into her purse and pulled out a full size shovel. "Yes."

Dave stared at the shovel. "How?"

"You're not the only one with skills," Bethany replied with a grin as she headed off to the side of the road where the ground was torn up and started digging.

"Shouldn't you let one of the guys do it?" Ella asked.

"This isn't the first grave I've dug," Bethany replied without looking at her granddaughter, thinking of the various pets she'd buried over the years. "It's just like riding a bicycle."

"What?" Ella sputtered.

"Your mother had horrible taste in boyfriends before she met your father," Bethany offered.

Myst smiled when he examined the Sap skill orb and realized it was just what he needed to fix part of his Demonic Aura skill.

Sap: Lv 2

Target: [Humanoid]

Requires: [Blunt Weapon], [Behind]

Effect: Converts [Blunt][Damage] to [Nonlethal][Damage], [SkillLv]x4% chance to knock the target unconscious.

'That should keep my aura from flash frying a kid that tries to pick my pockets,' Myst mused as he used the skill orbs and examined the farming skill.

Farming: Lv 2

Effect: Allows use of [Farming] Menu. Product[Produce] is [SkillLv]X2% higher quality. Decrease[Use Time][[SkillLv]X3%], Decrease [Growing Time][SkillLv]x3%.

"You should have stuck with farming," Myst muttered under his breath as he picked at the broken chain links where he'd been shot. "I'm not sure if the armor sucks or if he just got lucky."

"Probably a bit of both," Alice said as Phil walked over to take over digging the grave. "We're going to need better gear if we're going to be adventurers."

"I have a couple of ideas," Myst replied as he looked at his mining skill. "With Rigby's help, we can probably figure out how to make some decent blades."

"More like legendary swords," Rigby piped up.

Myst created skill orbs for his Expert Mining and Cursed Garment skills then brought the skills up with skill Manipulation, swapped the [Clothing] and [Mining Pick] qualities and hit the button. He sighed in relief as the world only spun a couple of times rather than crack open.

He frowned when he noticed the Use Time on his mining skill had changed to something that made the skill worse than useless. '99 years? Just as well I wasn't planning on using that version of the skill,' he mused as he used his skill orbs to get his skills back. 'Actually, I should probably swap the [Cursed] quality for [Material] and see if I can get mining picks made of random material.'

He created a skill orb for his Cursed Mining Picks skill then swapped the [Cursed] quality for the [Material] quality in his broken skill and hit the button, smiling as the world spun around a couple of times.

Conjure Exotic Mining Picks: Lv 2 [Un]

Target: Conjuration

Range: [1]

Duration: [1]hour

Mana Cost: 50

Effect: Conjure [Mining Pick][Enchanted][Material][Random]

Conjures an enchanted Mining Pick made out of various material, higher skill results in higher quality of material and design.

Myst used his new spell, conjuring a silvery mining pick with a dark wooden handle.

Dave raised his eyebrows. "How many conjuration skills do you have?" he asked, fairly sure there was something weird going on but not wanting to push.

"A few," Myst admitted as he examined the silver mining pick. "I can't see the pick holding up for more than a couple of hits."

"You should get a mithril pick," Rigby suggested.

Dave shook his head. "Nice idea but you actually want something a bit heavier than mithril, it's a third of the weight of steel which means it would bounce. It's also expensive."

"Does it hold an edge?" Alice asked.

"According to the shopkeeper it holds an edge like a dream, for what that's worth," Dave said the last part sarcastically, thinking about the various ads for steak knives he'd seen over the years that claimed the same thing.

Myst picked up the silver mining pick. "In other words, decent for armor and knives but not anything that requires weight to work." He looked over at Phil and Bethany. "Do you want some help?"

Phil turned and smiled when he saw the mining pick. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Myst walked over and focused on the shallow hole they'd dug and used his Expert Mining skill, causing the dirt and rocks to vanish and appear in a pile next to him along with a rusty iron ingot, leaving behind a three foot deep coffin sized hole. "Apparently iron counts as rare."

"Considering you were digging a shallow grave, that's probably fair," Phil replied as he headed over to grab the wagon driver's body.

Bethany shook her head, still not used to magic or strange skills even if they were proving useful. "Nice skill."

"I'm looking forward to testing it somewhere with decent ore," Myst said as he dropped the pick in his Smithing menu and pushed the button, picking up the pattern. "I'm going to be conjuring a bunch of tools, clothes and armor for the last part of the trip, if anyone wants to add random things to their crafting menus we can pass things around."

"Sounds good," Vivian said, looking forward to getting better gear.

"Can you conjure pillows so we can ride on the wagon without our asses being tenderized?" one of the cheerleaders asked hopefully.

"That would be nice, my feet are killing me," one of the other girls complained.

Myst shook his head. "No but I can conjure clothing and I have tailoring, we'll see what we can do."

Dave turned to look at Phil as he dragged the driver's body over. "Do you want to backtrack the bandits to their camp or leave it?"

Phil considered the question for a couple of seconds. "I'd be inclined to leave it considering this world is filled with monsters but they might have prisoners and starving to death is a horrible way to die."

"I doubt their camp is more than a mile from the road and they'd probably get eaten by wild animals before they starve," Dave pointed out.

Alice smiled at the guys. "If it helps, I have gunsmithing, I can make more ammo."

"Thank God!" Dave said, glad they didn't have to agonize over every bullet he had left.

"Do you need bullets to study?" Phil asked.

Alice shook her head. "No but it would make it easier. Worst case, I should be fine with a spent casing."

"I'll try to save some bullets." Phil turned to look at Myst. "Get the guy buried, we'll take a quick look."

"Best of luck," Myst offered as he reached down and unhooked the driver's belt pouch, seeing no reason to bury the guy with his gold, even if it felt a bit like stealing. "Did he mention a family?"

Bethany shook her head. "No, he hadn't gotten around to having one and he hadn't seen his parents for ten years."

"Sorry," Myst told the driver before lowering him into the grave, not sure what else to say as he wasn't familiar with the local customs. "Best of luck in the next life," he offered, then grabbed the shovel and started tossing the dirt back in the grave.

Dave waited until they were out of sight in the woods before he summoned a pair of busty female ninja, their blonde hair mostly hidden by their hoods. "We're hunting bandits, tell me if you find any," he ordered as he gestured towards the rather visible trail the bandits had left.

"On it," the ninja as they turned and dashed into the woods.

Phil pulled his attention off the shapely ninjas. "That's a bullshit skill."

"Nowhere close to Myst's skill," Dave said as they started following the trail.

"Any idea why I got the short end of the stick for abilities?" Phil asked.

Dave snorted. "I'd stab someone I didn't like for your ability, it lets you ignore armor and cover with every shot."

Phil snorted. "That doesn't count, you'd stab someone you didn't like for a Klondike bar."

Dave shook his head. "Only if I was already going to stab them and I'd rather have an ice cream sandwich, they're healthier. Besides, you can phase a bullet through a tank, what's not to love?"

"You got ninja strippers," Phil pointed out.

"Which means I win or at least I was reasonably sure until I saw some of the shit Myst pulled off and Rigby, what the hell is up with his skills?" Dave asked as he glanced around, wanting to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them despite the ninjas he'd sent to scout.

"Maybe the gods took pity on him because he's a kid," Phil offered.

"Which sure as hell doesn't explain Myst, there's no way some of the skills he handed out are even close to legit skills," Dave pointed out.

Phil shook his head. "So? He's handing them out and he's helping people, I'm not going to complain. I can't blame him for not sharing details, can you imagine what the nobles would do with the ability to teach high end skills instantly?"

"Nothing good," Dave admitted. "The problem is, if he's willing to admit that, what's he hiding?"

"Something that involves eldritch monsters and tentacle beasts," Phil muttered.

"Exactly, I'll stick with ninja strippers," Dave replied as he saw one of the ninjas coming back up the trail with a smile on her face. "Anything?"

"We found a lean-to and knocked the two guards unconscious while they were arguing over the prisoners. It was far too easy, they weren't even paying attention," the ninja complained as she walked over.

"Loot?" Dave asked.

"Lots," she replied smugly. "They hit a group of merchants earlier today."

Dave summoned another two ninja girls. "Let's get everything loaded up. We can drop the prisoners off at the town and get everything sorted."

Phil scratched his chin as he considered the situation. "I wouldn't mind spending a day or two getting everything organized and making some armor and bullets."

"Same," Dave agreed as they started walking down the trail, figuring it would give them a chance to work on some tactics before they ran into anything too nasty.

0o0o0

Dave glanced at where Rigby was curled up in a pile of conjured cloaks with his sister on the wagon then glared at the merchant that was following them. "If you're going to complain about the speed, you're welcome to grab your crate of exotic spices and run ahead."

The middle aged man with his nose in the air snorted. "I'm not going out there alone, make the wagon go faster or let me ride."

Myst glanced away from the light he could see in the distance and looked back at the merchant that had been complaining off and on for the last hour. "No, the horses are tired and we're hauling a fair amount of weight thanks to Salvani's wares."

"It's just iron," the merchant complained. "Dump it, you can get it in the morning."

"They're swords and knives for the duke," the thirty something year old woman argued, unwilling to dump her wares if she could help it.

"I'd rather dump your overpriced spices but a deal is a deal," Myst said, making the older merchant sputter.

"My spices are worth far more than Salvani's wares," he argued.

"I don't care, she hasn't been complaining for the last hour. Either way, unless I miss my guess, we're almost at the inn so you can stop complaining."

"Thank the gods," the merchant grumbled.

"At least we'll have beds to sleep in," Bethany pointed out, looking forward to a good night's sleep without worrying about bandits or goblins jumping out at them.

"Hopefully," Myst replied as the horses came to a stop in front of the inn's stables.

Dave walked over and grabbed the merchant's box of spices off the back and carefully set it down on the path in front of the inn. "Mission accomplished, you owe us five gold."

"You can't expect me to sell my goods here," the merchant argued. "I'll merely send a courier with the gold when I get to the capital."

"That wasn't the deal," Sarah argued.

The merchant smirked as two stablehands came out of the stables. "In that case, we didn't make a binding contract so I owe you nothing," he sneered, surprised that he'd actually found someone stupid enough to make a deal without a contract.

Dave seriously considered pulling out his gun and shooting the merchant. "As one of my heroes from back home said, I do a job, and I get paid. You might want to reconsider."

"Or you'll what, attack me?" the merchant sneered.

Myst hopped down from the seat and walked over so that was looking down at the shorter man. "Of course not, we're adventurers, not bandits," he cut in before Dave could say something he shouldn't. "But I am a vindictive soul, I bet I can hire at least twenty bards or street callers for five gold to drag your name through the mud and I'm not above hiring someone to talk to the guilds you do business with."

"They wouldn't believe you," the man sputtered, obviously concerned about the idea and the number of contracts it could cost him.

"I don't need them to believe me, I just need them to question your motives." Myst turned to look at the stablehands. "Can you take care of the horses?"

"Of course," the older of the two teenagers said as they quickly got to work unhooking the horses.

Myst dropped his voice to a whisper. "And if someone let slip in the merchant's quarter that your spices were tainted, I can't imagine that would help your business."

"That's a lie," the merchant snapped.

"How is it my fault if some random person spreads tales?" Myst asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

The merchant sneared. "I'll tell the guild that you stole the treasure."

"I'll swear under contract that we recovered it from bandits and that the rightful owners are dead," Myst replied.

"As will I," one of the other former prisoners said, less than impressed with the older merchant for trying to steal goods that weren't his without at least trying to cut the rest of them in on the deal.

Myst made a mental note to make a skill for conjuring cursed money when he had a chance for situations where he had to pay corrupt merchants. "Either way, congratulations, you're an ass, now run along. I'll be sure to tell the innkeeper that you can't afford to pay him, I'd hate for you to get a decent night's sleep or meal."

"He'll give me credit," the merchant argued.

"After I tell him what you did?" Myst asked with a smirk at the overweight merchant. "I doubt it. Besides, missing a couple of days of food isn't going to kill you."

Dave turned to look at Phil. "Flip for guard duty?"

Phil smirked at the merchant. "Nah, I'm looking forward to shooting the greedy merchant when he tries to steal something."

"We can take turns, I'm going to talk to the innkeeper about some rooms." Myst turned and walked into the inn, planning on coming back and sorting the loot once they had dinner and rooms taken care of.