CC5 ~ 36!

~ 36 ~

Joe stepped right back into the shop. His first steps outside had been interrupted by the braying laugh of a mustachioed Dwarf that ‘helpfully’ informed him that his current formal shoes ‘ruined the gravitas of his outfit’. In other words, he looked outright ridiculous. “Any chance you have some shoes that either match the clothes or my robe? I have normal shoes on, but…”

He walked out a few minutes later wearing white running shoes. They enhanced his speed out of combat by ten percent, which was nice. He was pleased to find that his discount at the Odds and Ends on Midgard somehow translated to this Zone, and even Minya had been confused as to why she was giving it to him. They had cost only five reputation with the Dwarven Council, which was… high? Low? He was still having trouble determining the worth of reputation as currency.

“If ten reputation is worth a full rank with any merchant, then even with the discount the boots were five hundred…?” Joe tried to decide if he was getting ripped off, but he really had no idea. Then he sighed as another revelation struck him. “Coulda just requisitioned them.”

He started skipping down the road, trying to remember where he needed to go in order to teleport to an area where he could fight things. After searching for far too long, he simply went to the wall and took note of the massive amount of Dwarves on guard duty. “Yeah… there’s gotta be plenty of things to kill around here if they are being this attentive.”

Joe walked out of the gate, getting a nasty shock when going under the portcullis. As soon as he passed that point, all of his active skills were turned off, and the enchantments on his gear faltered for a moment. He stumbled, coming to his senses to realize that over a dozen weapons were practically at his throat. One Dwarf grabbed him roughly and inspected his ears, then seemed to realize his Candidate title was active. The bearded Dwarf awkwardly patted Joe on the arm and grumbled, “Sorry, Bro. Standard nullification field at all points of entry. Can’t be too safe when there are so many illusionists out there. Let me help you through here. Can I carry anything for you, Friend of the Council? Need anything for your travels? Camping gear? Snacks?”

That was when Joe realized that he was about to leave a population center and go into the wild with zero preparation. “I… actually, that would be very useful. I need travel supplies and any information that you think would be useful when monster hunting. My… mentor suggested that I needed to gain some experience in this area before continuing on. I had planned to come back into the city, I think, but… perhaps I could spend some time in seclusion.”

“Oh!” The Dwarf grinned widely and walked Joe to a gatehouse. “I’m so pleased to be of service! Come, come! Human Bro, I have exactly what you want, and you don’t even know it! Here’s a map; this spot here is a cave system called the ‘Caves of Solitude’. It’s directly adjacent to Gramma’s Shoe, so you wanna make sure to stay on the path; but if you go there, I guarantee that no other Dwarves are gonna bother you. I can even give you a quest to hunt down some Air Spirits. Good reputation, you get to be alone, plenty of space to work out issues. Sound like a plan?”

“Yeah… by ‘Air Spirits’, you mean earth-using spirits… would that be earth elementals?” Joe quizzed for clarity.

“O’ course!” The Dwarf shook his head as if Joe was being funny. “You had to have been in the Legion for a while if you’re a Candidate, so you should at least understand what monster names mean. Gear is here, standard stockpile; and here’s the quest. Reputation or requisition?”

Quest alert: Wait, This Air Is Mud! The Caves of Solitude, a common destination for the discerning Dwarf seeking a little rest, have recently been used by Air Spirits as a rest spot for themselves. This is unacceptable, as only Dwarves and their allies should have rest and relaxation. Destroy the Air Spirits when you find them. Reward: 1 reputation with the Legion per spirit laid to rest. Failure: none. Deposit: 10 Legion reputation. Defeat 10 spirits and your deposit will be refunded.

Joe swiped his hand forward and took in the small pile of travel gear. “Requisition for sure. Where are the spirits coming from, if this is a new thing?”

“Want that quest too, bro? Gotta put rep on the line for this one. Messes up the rewards otherwise,” the Dwarf cheerfully stated. He blinked a few times, and a quest appeared in Joe’s vision.

Quest alert: Air Spirits Suck. The Legion has been asked to find the source of the encroaching Air Spirits. Yet, since they can sink into the earth, the source of the incursion has been hard to track. Find the reason the spirits are invading this territory, and put a stop to it or report the issue. Reward: 1,000 reputation with the Legion. Failure: None. Deposit: 100 Legion reputation. At a minimum, report the reason to refund your deposit.

Joe whistled at the quest. “That’s a big deposit… why?”

“Caves of Solitude are supposed to be sparsely populated, Bro.” The Dwarf punched Joe’s shoulder in a friendly manner, taking out fifteen health and reminding Joe that he needed to reactivate his protections. “Some big shots go there, and they were getting annoyed at all the people crawling over their vacation spot. The Air Spirits can’t do anything to them, so…”

“Could they be the reason the spirits are there? They want more privacy?” Joe’s brow furrowed as he thought about the quest.

“Wow! The quest was just completed!” The Dwarf gasped.

“Really?”

“Course not, dumb Bro.” The Dwarf chuckled at him, and Joe laughed after a moment as well. “Gotcha, though. Nah, that’s already been looked into. Want the quest or no?”

Joe looked at his untouched Legion reputation. He was sitting at negative five hundred and seventy; all of his pay so far still hadn’t brought him up to neutral. Finishing this quest would take care of that, and at worst, he was out ten day’s worth of pay from his ‘basic training’. “Yeah, I’ll take it.”’

-100 reputation with the Dwarven Legion! Current reputation: -670 (Cautious).

“Good hunting, Candidate Bro…” The Dwarf watched as Joe started sparkling, flashed with a dark light, then all traces of sweat vanished. “Candidate mage Bro?”

“Yeah, and thanks for the information.” Joe walked out of the city properly this time, studying the map he had… gained. It listed various areas around the city, and included the average level and type of monsters that he could expect to run into. “Holy guacamole, this map must be worth… don’t think about it, Joe. Don’t lose or damage the map.”

The Caves of Solitude were apparently more popular than the guard had let on, as there was a clear path that led directly there. Yet, the road was distinctly marked as ‘not safe’ on the map for some reason. There were… Joe looked at the map more closely. “What in the abyss is a ‘Hammer Beast’?”

He didn’t need to wait very long to find out. A creature rolled along the path, at first glance appearing to be an oversized boulder. As it neared Joe, the ball unfurled into a… the best way Joe could describe it to himself was an ‘armadillo turtle’. It was heavily armored over its entire body, yet had an especially thick shell around its torso that it could curl into. Just like every other monster native to this Zone, it had two heads as well. They extended on flexible necks, and while it stood still, it strangely reminded Joe of a snail as it looked at him.

A heavily armored, spike-covered, fast creature. “Ah. Hammer Beast. Hit it with a hammer, because blades are just going to bounce off.”

Joe once more groaned at the Dwarven naming conventions, but he had to admit that it was an effective way to describe and share the weaknesses. The beast jumped lightly into the air, snapping into a ball, then rolled at Joe aggressively. As a ball, it reached the center of Joe’s chest at the highest point, and he knew that he really didn’t want to get hit by that thing. He had a simple solution to this issue, and grinned cheerfully as he jumped over the ball and landed on his feet with a chuckle.

He looked behind himself just in time to see the spiked ball coming back at him twice as fast as it had been just a moment ago, and his eyes went wide as it crushed him into the ground and tried to turn him into a waffle. Specifically not a pancake, what with all the holes it tried to drill into him.

Sneak attack successful: 917 damage taken. (Crushing/Piercing).

Exquisite Shell: 2,645/3,562.

“Ow. Seriously, almost a third of my shell in one go?” The ball continued past him, reaching the spot it had started from and popping out to see if Joe had been destroyed. Joe groaned and got to his feet, staring murder at the Hammer Beast. “Oh, look, you have an attack pattern I can exploit. I appreciate the opportunity to test my new weapon on you, beast bro.”

Joe chuckled at the absurdity of his words as he mentally lifted two of his new orbs into the air. Maybe his time with the Dwarves was affecting him more than he thought it had been.