23 Growth (1/2)
”He's barely holding on!” bellows Trent from beside the cart. ”Quick!”
You see Thomas and the healer rushing towards the cart.
You are relieved and that moment of relaxation finally allows your exhaustion to take hold as you finally collapse.
Endless wars… a sky blanketed in fire… cities burned to the ground…
You wake up from the foreboding and yet familiar dark dream.
You are lying on a bed and you see Skybreaker and your pack on top of a table.
You hear the voices of six — no seven people outside the room.
Your body seems to have recovered from most of the damage from the forest adventure — but your psyche is still somewhat affected your previous exertions.
From what you can piece out from the conversation outside — it seems you've been out for almost three days.
You get up from the bed and immediately get to your pack for a change of clothing.
You have no idea who's been taking care of you — but they made sure to put you in comfortable clothing.
You change to your own set of clothes and fold your borrowed ones neatly — before placing them on top of the bed.
Creeaakk….
The slight creak of the door silences the chatting voices.
You see the figures of Eomer and Trent, as well as a few unfamiliar people — most probably Trent's family.
”Thank God you've awakened!” cries Trent. He moves towards you but hesitates as he nears you — fearful of any injuries you may have.
”I seem to be fine,” you declare. ”How's Bruce?”
Trent has this complicated look on his face, as if he wants to answer the question but isn't able to.
”He's fine,” answers Eomer. He looks at Trent, ”Don't make the boy worry.”
”You saved him,” says Trent, ”but there were other… complications.”
”Complications?”
Trent shakes his head. ”The wolf's claws reached his heart — but it was the damned cold that did the most damage.”
”The healers said the damage would likely be permanent,” Eomer interrupts, ”unless we get can get our hands on high-level magic.”
”How is he?”
”He's doing fine,” answers Trent. ”His adventuring days might be over — but he'll live.”
”No, he won't,” you worry inside.
Bruce was — is a fighter. He would only be satisfied if he was out there pitting himself against strong opponents. Protecting the town or earning gold was secondary to his primary motivation for being an adventurer — proving himself to himself.
”Where is he now?” you worriedly ask.
”At home recovering,” Trent frowns. ”I sent word to Braun, his father, but I don't know if that bastard would show up.”
You see that even Eomer feels that was unlikely.
”What happened back there?” asks Eomer. ”The healer said it was a miracle that he lived for more than an hour.”
”I'm not so sure either,” you reply. ”All I know is that I didn't want Bruce to die.”
He nods in understanding.
”Maybe that old smith was wrong — maybe you have some magic in you after all?” says Trent.
”That seems to be the case,” you reply.
You glance at the two and they seem to be at a loss on what to do now that you've recovered.
”I should be going,” you say. ”Thank you for your care for the past few days.”
”No, no need for that,” says Trent. ”You can stay for as long as you want.”
”I have a place with Thomas — I don't want to impose.”
”Let the kid go,” Eomer agreed before Trent could even protest. ”Let's just have dinner with the others tonight to let them know that you're well.”
He takes a small pouch and puts it in your hands.
”We earned more than 1000 gold from those wolves. After the healing and everything — everyone still got 120 gold.”
You gladly accept the coins and head back to the room for Skybreaker and your pack.
”Thank you,” Trent says clasping you in the shoulders. ”The boy is alive because of you.”
You merely smile knowing that Bruce might have preferred dying to living a normal life.
You thank everyone once again before you leave the house — especially Trent's wife and family.
Looking back at the battles — you realize that you made several mistakes and that you were vastly unprepared. That would not be the case next time.
You head to Everett's book shop to finally learn about magic — humming all the way to practice your blindsight. You'll need to use everything in your arsenal in every battle to avoid any other unwanted incidents.
”You again,” Everett looks up from reading a book as you enter the bookshop. ”I heard you went on an adventure with Eomer and the others — townspeople are already making stories of how the Wolves saved the town from wolves.”
There's a certain respect in his voice that wasn't apparent from before.
”We weren't prepared,” you groaned.
”Yes, the boy — Bruce was it?” he asks with a somber tone.
You nod.
”He needs powerful healing magic that the town's healers can't provide…”
”Nor the city's — or even the kingdom's,” he interrupts.
”So it's final?”
”It might not be,” he seems to have drifted off into his memories. ”There are other recourses aside from healing — some of them restricted or even prohibited.”
”Can you look them up for me?”
”I could… for a fee.”
You put two piles of 20 gold on the counter.
He looks at you questioningly.
”One for your research, the other for that book on the basics of magic.”
He nods and takes both piles. He enters another room and returns with a couple of books.
”Take your pick,” he says, placing the two books in front of you. ”The first one describes a few rudimentary spells as well as their workings, the other one has fewer spells but it has more insights on magic theory.”
Both books are quite large, around a foot in width and a foot and a half in length. They had close to 200 pages each, but the first book had its pages printed on both sides, while the second one left room for notes and commentary.
”I'll take the second one.”
”A good choice,” Everett says as he gives you the book and stores the other.
”I'll be back in a week,” you say with a grim tone as you pack the book. ”Hopefully you can dig up something by then.”
”Of course, of course. A week should be enough.”
You leave the bookshop and make your way to Glenn's.
Although the orc bow was powerful — it just wasn't powerful enough to make a difference. You needed a better weapon.
Trriing!
The sound of bells immediately alerted Glenn to your arrival.
He gives you a nod.
”I heard the frost wolf armor served you well in your last outing.” He remarked. ”And you bought a lot of those pelts back, it seems.”
You pull out the orc bow and place it on the counter.
”I need a more powerful weapon.”