Friends in a Foreign Land

About two hours after leaving the area where they killed the goblins, the party heard something that sounded like fighting to the east of them. They followed the sounds and soon found a goblin hunting party that was attempting to kill a giant boar. The boar didn’t look to have much health left but it had already taken out about half the party. The remaining four goblins managed to finally kill the animal by peppering it with arrows while perched in the trees. Arden and crew watched from about thirty yards away, hidden by the trees.

Arden glanced at Nolan, “Less than last time and we need the practice and experience.”

“Wait. Let them start to carry the carcass first, then we’ll attack while they’re occupied. Hazel, remember to stick to ranged spells. Willow, go ahead and buff your staff.” Nolan ordered.

“Willow, can you buff multiple staffs?” Arden asked

“No sir, only one at a time.”

“Bummer. No worries, though.” Arden said as he slid his staff through the loop on his pack and equipped his mace and shield. He then used his ability [Shield of Faith] to cause a bubble to shimmer into being around Willow, but a few inches out from her skin.

“It’s time,” Nolan said quietly “Hazel, can you set the boar on fire so it’ll burn all of them?”

“But not burn down the forest,” added Arden.

Hazel just grinned as she cast [Fire Bolt]. It hit the boar and ignited as if it were dry grass. Nolan, Arden, and Willow charged the goblins as they dropped the boar and were trying to put out the fire. Arden aimed for the left side of the boar and used his shield to knock the first goblin prone and charged past it to hit a second with his mace. It took him three swings, but he killed the goblin before it could even counter-attack. Willow, following behind her father, quickly killed the prone goblin by jabbing her staff through its eye and into the brain. Nolan broke to the right and killed the first goblin he came to with two swift punches to the throat and headbutt looked up to find the second goblin was no longer there. “My second goblin disappeared,” he said softly before turning back to Hazel where she stood with her son.

Before he could ask, Hazel filled him in, “I hit it with my second fire bolt and it ran away. It went to the right. Arlo took out after it but I lost sight of them both.”

“Arlo!” yelled Willow, concerned about her companion. She started to head in the direction Hazel indicated when they all heard a horn being blown. The group scrambled in the direction of the sound and found the missing goblin sitting on a tree limb about 15 feet in the air. Arlo was pacing around the bottom of the tree looking up. Before the goblin even saw them Nolan had already fired off a spell at it. A silver energy bolt hit the goblin, piercing its side causing it to fall from the tree. They inspected the goblin and saw that it was dead.”

“What spell was that?” Arden asked.

“[Radiant Bolt]”

"Did the spell kill it or the fall?" Hazel questioned.

“I'm not sure, but either way, it's dead. We should get going before someone responds to his horn-blowing.”

The group quickly checked the goblins for loot but didn’t find anything worth keeping. As they started moving back through the forest heading east toward the river Nolan spoke up, “Hey Willow, can Ewan use Arlo as a mount? I'd like to get out of here quickly.”

Willow looked to Arlo and they stared at each other for a moment before Willow looked back at Nolan, “He said he’ll try.”

Moments later they’re rushing through the woods in search of the river Willow had seen. Arlo was noticeably slower than before but still out paced everyone except Nolan. After nearly an hour, and with Ewan only falling from the wolf twice, the group finally stepped out onto a long abandoned road that was in the process of being taken back by nature. And thirty or so feet past the road was the river.

“Finally!” Hazel said before she flopped to the ground.

Seeing how tired the kids were Arden announced, “Ten minute break. Empty your bladders and drink some water. Your packs should also have trail rations if you want a snack.” Arden then pulled out a wooden bowl from his pack filled it full of water from his water skin before setting it in front of Arlo who immediately started drinking. Then he looked back to Nolan.

“What are the odds that our contact was randomly killed by goblins?”

“There does appear to be quite a few of them around here. I think it’d be hard to prove if it was random or intentional.”

Arden walked off the road and sat with his back to a tree, near the river. “Cilena said the contact would help us to get into the village and give us the lay of the land, so to speak. This won’t be as easy without a guide. I don’t want to lie to folks when they ask where we came from, but I also don’t intend on telling anyone the whole truth either.”

“So we keep it vague,” Hazel said as she walked up to Nolan and her father.

“You used to be the king of bullshitting folks, dude. Time to dust off those skills.” Nolan added.

“Yeah. Just can’t help but worry.” Looking over at Hazel, “Did you get the baby some food and water?”

“One. He’s not a baby; he’s four years old. Two. Yes, I did.” Hazel replied with a touch of agitation in her voice.

“I worry about him too. I’m glad he has a ward on him to protect him, but seeing us murder folks doesn’t seem right. And what happens if we get killed? Is he just going to be wandering around impervious from harm but with no one to take care of him?”

“Yeah… I was thinking about that too.” Hazel replied dejectedly. “I don't think we have many options, Dad. Whatever quest the gods have for us includes me. But I'm not going to abandon my child, like mom did with my sisters and me.”

“I understand. We'll find a way to do this. We’re literally working for gods and goddesses, so I’m sure they can come up with something.”

Hazel nodded as she walked away, already looking like she was deep in thought.

“Hate to rush, but it’s probably best we get moving again,” Nolan said.

“We’re ready, just waiting on you old folks,” Willow said while petting Arlo.

“I’m okay with being called old as long as I get to feel as good as I do in this world,” Arden said with a grin.

“By the way, did you all notice that we leveled up?” Willow asked

“Already?” asked Arden as he checked his status screen

“Yeah, but it doesn’t look like we get anything for it until we rest, though.”

“Still, that’s great.”

The group continued their journey heading northward on the road they’d found, making small talk along the way.

After a while, Nolan looked over to Arden and asked, “Hey Arden, can I ask you a question without you being offended?”

“Hell no, I’m offended you even thought about it.” Arden popped back with a smile.

“I noticed during the fights that your strikes didn’t look to be doing as much damage as I would have expected. What’s your athletics stat at?”

“24”

“Really? My athletics is at 31.” Willow said

“My athletics is at 35,” Nolan stated. “That explains why I’m hitting so much harder than you. But why is yours so low? There’s never been that big of a difference in our abilities. I thought the gods brought us over at our relative strengths.”

“Yeah, I’m weak because I traded some points. Well, that and I got old and lazy. My strength wasn’t what it used to be, to begin with.” Arden said.

“You get them to pump up your mental stat?” Nolan asked.

“Nope. I got them to bump up my Luck.”

“Why luck?” Hazel asked

“I spoke with Cilena quite a bit about the stats. The athletics stat can be raised here just like on Earth. If you want it higher, do some exercises and you’ll eventually gain points. She said that even the mental stat can be raised by learning new things and training your mind to work in new ways. The same with social. Just interact with others a lot and try to get better in social situations. Mental is harder to raise than physical and social, but from what I was told, luck is nearly impossible to raise intentionally. So I sacrificed some points from the others and got them placed into luck. I figure with us being in a new world with unknown issues and enemies… well, like they say, `better to be lucky than good.` And if athletics is the easiest to raise, then I’ll just earn it the old-fashioned way.”

Nolan nodded, "I got a few points assigned to luck. My luck is 12; what’s yours at?”

“I’m sitting at 16 for luck. While we’re talking about the stats, I was told that each time we level up, we will get additional points. Some will be assigned based on our class but some we’ll get to assign ourselves. If raising my stats proves to be harder than expected, I’ll assign those points where needed.”

“Makes sense,” Willow said. “But that means I’m stronger than you are!” she teased.

“Thank you, Viznen, for making me stronger than my dad!” Hazel shouted, causing the whole group to start laughing.

As the group continued to walk, they noticed more of the local wildlife, seeing some magnificent birds, gray squirrels, some sort of black snake, and a rabbit… that Arlo caught and ate in front of them.

About an hour before sunset, the group spotted some burned-out farms and a village in the distance. As they passed the old farms, Arden spoke up, “How long ago do you think these were abandoned?”

“No clue,” Nolan responded

“Can we go exploring?” asked Willow

“Sounds fun,” Hazel said

“Not today. Let’s see about getting the village to let us inside their walls before we do anything they may dislike, like tramping around their abandoned property.”

“So what do we do once inside?” Hazel asked.

“Tonight, I just want to find an inn so we can eat and relax. Maybe hit a temple to pray. But keep your ears open for problems that we can solve. This village is our first stop on our goodwill tour of this world. Let’s make a good impression.”

“Does that mean you won’t be flirting with the ladies?” Hazel asked

“Depending on the woman, that may leave a really good first impression,” responded Nolan.

“Not the way dad does it. He has no game.” Hazel said

“What‽ I have plenty of game. It’s just a different game than what you kids play.” Arden said with a smile while his daughters laughed at him.