The New Bond

Ferin

Letting out a strangled curse, and using one hand to hold back the snapping teeth, I fumbled with the knife strapped onto my thigh. Pulling it out, I buried it into the throat of the massive feline, then dragging the knife down, I made a large, ragged gash. Blood ran freely out of the wound, drenching me in the sticky crimson liquid. I almost gagged as some went into my mouth before I could close it. The iron flavor was awful.

Rolling to the side, I moved out of the way as the beast stumbled and then fell.

[You have gutted a Feral Panther, Grass Prowler - Level 72]

[You have defeated a Panther - Grade 1. Experience is awarded]

“When I asked if the beast looked tamable, I didn't mean you should hug it.” A voice somewhere behind me said.

Holding up one arm, I flicked off my dwarven party member.

“Give her a break, Theron. You remember your first mission, Garnd?” Caleb said.

Garnd, the slightly taller-than-average dwarf, let out a grumble but didn't say anything else as I sat up.

Looking over my body, I sighed. I'd have to take another bath and get my clothes cleaned again. More copper to be used instead of saved. It had become a staple of being in this party. Every single mission we took at the Adventurers Guild ended up with me needing to spend hours cleaning myself. The first mission had been to kill slimes in the sewers of the city, a repetitive task because of how they formed in excessively dirty places, but letting them build up and merge into bigger slimes could be a problem for the city. I had fallen into the gunk, something that had taken multiple washes to get the smell out, but it had seemed to bring the four of us closer as a party.

I was currently trying to save up to get an enchantment done for a self-cleaning rune on my armor and clothes to solve the issue, but it was expensive, almost an entire gold, a price that made me wince internally.

“Well, I think that was the last one. Let's get its left ear. Then, we can head back and turn in the quest for the reward. Lisa, if you would do the honors, Ferin if you want, there's a river you can clean up in while we finish.” Caleb said, pointing to the left.

Giving a thumbs up, I picked up the sword from where it had been knocked out of my hand from the first panther and walked where he gestured.

Caleb was a good party leader even with as new as the role was to him. Our entire party of four was made up of grade ones, all of us under level seventy-five, which meant we were all copper-ranked adventures. We made for a good mix of abilities, even if we needed to improve in a few specific areas.

Caleb was like me, a frontline, except where I used a sword, he used a spear. Garnd was our dwarf mage who, surprise, surprise, specialized in earth magic.

Then, our last member was Lisa, a rogue. She was the most interesting of the group. Talking a lot more than most rouges did, she seemed to be the center of attention at any inn we stayed the night at, but during a fight, she was almost impossible to spot.

This was our eighth quest together and the last one before the party fund, which was twenty percent of any quest reward, would be enough to get us into a grade-one dungeon.

Spotting the small river, Caleb was talking about. I didn't take off my armor even with as much as I wanted to. Instead, I pulled out a rag and started to clean myself up, starting with my weapons.

My armor, which was only leather and some chainmail, had saved my life three times now, and taking it off in the middle of a place where a beast could be was just asking to die.

Once most of the red was cleaned off and my hair mostly free of it, I sorted out my armor, wiping it all down before I headed back. I would need to change clothes, but that could wait until we made camp. We had selected the bounty to find the beast that was eating the sheep in one of the nearby farmhouses because it was worth fifteen silver. The farmer had been adamant about it being solved quickly before more sheep ended up a meal.

I don't think any of us thought it'd be more than one beast this close to a city, but we had found three panthers. The third one had been a surprise hiding in the long grass and had almost gotten its mouth around my head. Looking at the now dead beast, they seemed somehow smaller than they had at the moment. The fur of two of them still looked relatively intact, and Lisa was already skinning one of them. We probably would end up closer to twenty silver when we were done if we could sell them for a decent price.

“Ah, Ferin, you look much better. Garnd had already fetched our packs. Yours is by that tree.” Caleb said. He was holding a spear in one hand as he looked around, keeping an eye out.

Nodding, I went over it, slipping it on. “What's the plan? Do you want to get another quest as soon as we get back? We’re close to the silver required for the dungeon fee.”

“Well, with what's going on with the border and the relations with Arilon getting more tense, a lot more effort is going into recruiting more soldiers. We're only in grade one. Even if we're all above level sixty, we're still a long way from the normal level ninety-five requirement, but if a war starts, then a draft might start.”

Garnd stomped his boot on the ground. “Damn, elves are always trying to start something. Can't let their century-old grudges fade.”

I sighed, then accepted the wrapped-up pelt Lisa handed over to me. The last thing I wanted was a war, but from the news, Arilon was putting more troops on the border. Dragons had even been spotted laying on some of the fort walls.

The thought of meeting one of those creatures sent a shiver up my spine. I shook my head, clearing the image, and looked back at Caleb. “So what's the plan then?”

“Well, I want to try to level us as fast as possible. If we can reach grade two, we can create a sub-guild under the adventures guild, and then we'd be safe from the draft unless it got serious.”

Lisa, who had finished skinning the panthers and was wrapping up the last skin, laughed. “A sub-guild cost fifty gold to start, not to mention the upkeep. How would we get the money?”

Caleb grimace. “I was thinking of a guild expedition; you know they pay five gold per person plus more for any finds.”

The grass planes were quiet for a moment. The reason for the ridiculously high payout was the danger. An expedition was only formed for massive groups that went south towards the desert in search of dungeons and ruins.

“Would an expedition even accept grade ones? I mean, there was a grade seven monster spotted on the last one.” Garnd asked as he messed with his wooden staff and the small stone ball on top.

Caleb nodded, then smiled before he gestured wide. “Usually, no, but this time, the expedition was requested from the empire itself. There are rumors that there's a dungeon that was found just out of the empire’s border that's releasing massive groups of monsters, and with the border tension with Arilon, they can't send troops. What do all you think, should we join?”

“I don't want to end up in a war, but an expedition is dangerous, but the pay is amazing, and the chance to form a sub-guild is something we can't pass up on,” Garnd said first.

“I have to agree with him, and I mean, it's not like they're going to put us in the front to fight monsters. They'll probably have us giving out water or something,” I said after a moment of thought.

Lisa nodded with us. “I'm all for it. I signed up to be an adventurer to explore the world. I'd thought I'd be a bit stronger before an expedition, but this sounds like a plan as long as we're not strung out for monsters.”

Caleb grinned wide, probably happy no one had disagreed with his idea. “Then we have to be in Agoten in a month. If we play our cards right, then we can probably get a few levels before we get there.”

Turning in the quest was easy with the ears for proof, and we all got our cut. The pelts were more challenging to sell off. With them only being grade one, it was hard to find any leather worker who wanted them. Still, after a talk with one of the Adventures Guild’s staff at the front desk, we managed to find a blacksmith who had a daughter training to become a leatherworker who bought them for two silver each.

With that done, we needed to gather the supplies that would be necessary for the trip to Agoten. It was the northernmost town of the empire that still had stone walls and was a solid three weeks away. The idea Caleb had was instead of going in a straight line to the city on the main path. Instead, we could curve around and pass through the nearby villages and see if there were any monsters that could be fought.

Taking a moment while resting on a bench and waiting for Caleb to finish with the general goods trader for new packs and rations, I looked at my status sheet.

[Name: Ferin Deklim]

[Grade: 1]

[Level: 63][Titles: Street Rat]

[Mana: 1490/1490]

[Stamina: 1165/1165]

[Race Class: Faltrin Human - Level 63]

[Class Skills: Observation, Rat’s Sight, Alternative Nutrition]

[Second Class: Light Step Sword - Level 53]

[Class Skills: Imbue Blade, Alternative Dodge, Returning Step - Rank Two, False Swipe - Rank Three]

[Passive Class Skills: Danger Sense - Rank Three, Acrobatics - Rank Four, Survival - Rank Six, Swords - Rank Three]

[Attributes]

[Available Attribute Points - 0]

[Constitution - 200]

[Strength - 233]

[Endurance - 233 ]

[Dexterity - 371]

[Charisma - 121]

[Intelligence - 351]

[Wisdom - 298]

The one free attribute point per level in Light Step Sword had gotten me to two hundred constitution and helped with dexterity. It was only an uncommon class that had been a spur-of-the-moment choice, but it had ended up working well, so I couldn't complain. I did wish I had more time to work on getting new skills, but not having money put a damper on that. Flicking the screen away, I couldn’t help but grin.

Everyone thought being a person who had to be up and close with a monster to fight required a shield or being tough enough to take a hit, but if whatever you were fighting couldn't hit you, then you were mostly safe. That didn’t mean I was going to let my constitution lack.

There would always be faster or stronger things out there, and I wasn’t going to risk it.

I was pulled out of my musings by Caleb walking out and the thumbs up he gave. After a talk on the way back, we had all agreed to start the trip tonight and camp outside the city to avoid paying for a tavern room. When you had to watch every coin you spent, a copper here and a copper there tended to add up. Now, all that was left was to pick up Garnd from the magic shop he liked to visit so much, not that he would ever be able to afford a staff or any enchanted item from there.

Once we were all together, we set out without another glance except for Lira, the only one of us to actually grow up in this city. The rest of us had all come to the Terlim because it was a known place for new adventures to start. Caleb had come from a border village, Garnd was from the capital, and I was from the second biggest city, Faltrin.

Once on the open planes, it was easy going, with Caleb making jokes about how fast we could travel with horses. The landscape of Karvum and most of the upper continent was flat land and small hills that made it easy to keep watch and see other travels. There were two ranges of mountains that fed the rivers that crossed the planes and led into massive forests, only one of which was in Karvum. In all to say, it was easy to keep an eye out as long as you were the least bit observant. It was so easy, in fact, that the old Karvum saying ‘You could see a dragon a thousand wing beats away’ had stayed popular over the century.

The only surprise in three days of travel was when Lira had been on watch. She had spotted a burrower deer, one of the more common and passive species that lived in the tunnel networks that were all under the planes. She had managed to kill it without making a noise or waking any of us up. Waking up to a fresh meal roasting on a small fire gave us all high moods for the next few days. The first village we reached after a week of travel and everything had been peaceful. The next village was only two days away, and everything had been quiet, but an early harvest had started on some of the crops, so with Caleb's urging, our party stayed to help with it and won the rest of us over.

We spent three days helping harvest the crops. The farmers were multitudes of times better at the work of their scythes, clearing swaths of the long stems at a time. Even with the small amount of the field we were able to clear, we each earned half a silver and warm meals as well as some good stories that passed the time. When we left, it was on good terms and with bright smiles.

The next two weeks progressed in a similar manner, with only a small side track to kill a pack of grade one Caltonus, a knee-high pest with long ears and sharp talons that it used to dig up and feed on plants appearing. The group was only six big and were only barely above level thirty, so not much experience was earned. Most villages had some odd work that didn't take long, and we could help with it. It wasn’t as profitable as a quest from the guild, but it seemed to make everyone grateful. It was the last and smallest village where everything went wrong.

“Something seems off,” Caleb said as we approached the first of the wooden and clay mixed houses. With the rarity of wood

It was a small village with only six houses and could barely be called one without a place to store crops, but each house was spaced out and had big, overgrown fields around them full of various crops. Even some tree sprouts were poking out of the ground.

It was notoriously hard to keep trees alive in the planes, but growing them just for harvest was quite simple to most of the farmers and was how they were probably planning on building more houses and other buildings.

“What gave it away? The fact there's no one out in mid-day, or the crops look half wilted or overgrown?” Garnd said with a snort.

“Do you think we should just avoid it? What if it’s a plague or disease?” I couldn’t help but ask. I didn’t mind helping people, but I’d spent my fair share of time in a warded-off district of Faltrin full of dying and sick people to know not to mess with any disease. I wasn’t a healer, and I wouldn’t claim to be one.

“If it were a plague, there would be markings put on the buildings or at least some sign of it,” Lira said doubtfully.

I rolled my eyes but didn’t say anything, staying in the back of the group to be cautious as Caleb went up to the door of the closet house. I waited a dozen feet away, almost tempted to use a rag to cover my mouth.

Perhaps it was the only reason I wasn't killed when the house exploded. A pang of warning sharp enough to cause a stab of pain in my head flashed through my mind as Caleb went to knock on it. Before I could say anything or even open my mouth, an explosion from the middle of the building sent burning wood chips and sharp clay spikes everywhere. It seemed to happen instantly and slowly at the same time. I could only watch as a wood shard a foot long and an inch thick went straight through Caleb's neck, and a clay piece big, enough to sit on, slammed into Garnd, sending him flying one way and one of his arms the other way. Lira’s torso started to turn into a black mist, but before it could reach her head, a brick of clay sent her to the ground. I managed to sidestep a wall of splinters with the help of Alternative dodge and a mix of acrobatics, but even with over three hundred dexterity, I couldn't dodge all of it. My arm and shoulder were filled with pain as multiple pieces of the building lodged into it the speed breaking the chainmail and piercing the leather. The shockwave of whatever it was sent me flying dozens of feet. The last thing I could make out was the plume of dust and fire rising to the sky before something sharp collided with the back of my head, and everything went black.