It’s a pretty far treckin’ to town…」
「Sure is.」
The next day, they cleaned up the campsite where they stayed two days, and started walking towards a town. Two whole days spent in a patch of land with no roof over their heads. Although they had enough bear belt left over to make blankets for both of them after making the bag, it was less than the careful strategy.
After their conversation, they decided that it was an awkward time of day to move camp, and Haruna requested for Hiroshi to make more potions because she wanted to see him craft the glass bottles.
In the end, Hiroshi crafted all sorts of level 2 potions, which were easier to make, until he collapsed. Although it was much easier than the first batch of special potions since he had all the equipment necessary.
It appeared that, despite the less than optimal conditions, Hiroshi didn’t fail any level 4 and below potion, thanks to his Extra Skills Brewing for the Gods and Medicine for the Gods, but Hiroshi didn’t mention it as he couldn’t verify that fact.
「Come to think of it, a Berserker Bear meant we’re pretty far from town.」
「What a weird spot to be dropped in, you and I.」
「Ya said it.」
In order to find the town from their vague memories, they kept on the small pathways that looked like people used regularly. It wasn’t paved like a main road, but more defined than a single footpath. Needless to say, Hiroshi kept an abnormal distance between him and Haruna.
Their surrounding vegetation wasn’t tall enough to call it a forest, nor short enough to call it a plateau. They agreed, judging by the landscape, types of vegetation, and wildlife, that they were near Wulls, the capital of Farlane.
The disagreement arose, however, when it came to the direction they should head in. They settled on going in the opposite direction of where the Berserker Bear came from. Backtracking the bear’s path would drive them further into the woods.
Wulls was also the starting point of the game, and the oldest location that had been implemented since Beta. Even in Beta, the entirety of Farlane was more than vast. No one traversed the entire region during the Beta period.
「Isn’t that a main road?」
「Sure looks like one. Now, which way are we goin’…?」
「No signposts that I can see…」
While it was only natural, there were no signs that showed where this little road was headed. Even Hiroshi, who remembered grinding around this area back in the day, never remembered a signpost.
Although it was five years ago, this road was often used by the neighboring people and adventurers who wanted ingredients for some medicine. The forest up ahead consisted of a similar landscape, too.
「Which was it, now…?」
Walking up to the center of the wide road, they looked around for any clues.
「You remember this place, Toudou-san?」
「Not at all. I haven’t really walked through this area in four years. I haven’t even been to Wulls in two.」
「I ain’t much better. I was a hermit out in the middle of nowhere. Up until last year, I went to Wulls a lot diggin’ for quests, but I didn’t really need to get out of the city.」
「I was based in Darl, so I don’t know my way around these parts anymore.」
They sighed in unison. If anyone else were there, they could have asked them the way, but unfortunately no one on the street. Normally, caravans and the like would be passing by, but it looks like they hit a pocket of dead time.
「All right, let’s tip a stick…」
「And what if it goes fallin’ down the middle?」
「Eeny meeny miny moe?」
「Why don’t we eeny meeny from the start?」
Haruna gave a nod to Hiroshi’s observation. While they were bantering, a silhouette appeared ahead.
「Toudou-san. Someone’s over yonder.」
「You’re right. Let’s go talk to them.」
They walked over to the approaching silhouette with the zeal of finding an alien on a new planet. With precautions for confrontation, of course.
「They don’t look all right.」
「Yeah, they’re in a hurry.」
「The one bein’ carried looks horrible.」
「…I’ll talk to them.」
Determined, Haruna approached the pair. Ready to jump in between them if need be, Hiroshi followed her, hand floating near his knife. They were aware that Haruna was much better suited for the breaking the ice with strangers.
「Excuse me…」
「My apologies. We’re in a hurry.」
「What happened to him?」
「Clawed by a Venomous Wolf. I treated the wound, but once the venom circulates, he’s done for. So, excuse me…」
The man spat out in a hurry without slowing his feet as he continued in the direction Hiroshi and Haruna came from.
「Azuma-kun, can’t we use the antidote you made for a Venomous Wolf…?」
「It should work.」
Despite feeling a tinge of uneasiness at the convenience of the situation, they still decided that letting this character die wasn’t worth one of their antidotes.
「Do you know any Antidote spells, Toudou-san?」
「Nothing that will work on a Venomous Wolf’s. It’s pretty rare to get clawed, and most people are immune anyway, so I didn’t really spend the time.」
「Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.」
Status conditions like Poison and Paralysis are less effective to, and easier to cure for players with higher resistance or immunity. Poison and Paralysis both have various causes, and requires either an antidote that matches the source, or a Cure-All potion only available to Advanced crafters, or else a spell that matches the particular status condition or a high-level healing spell.
When combating status conditions, which included over five variations of poison alone once a player was out of the introductory area, most players decided to build resistance rather than healing every time they were afflicted.
Therefore, other than players who had been healers since the approach of building resistance was popularized, not many players had an arsenal of spells that could heal physical status conditions. Hiroshi, in fact, just carries around a bunch of Cure-All potions.
In addition, his original compound of the max-level Cure-All potions can prevent all status conditions for the next six hours. Which only drove status-healing magic away from his peripheral. Of course, most players had no access to such ridiculous potions, so in high-level dungeons, the spells carried certain weight.
However, for players like Hiroshi and Haruna, who are in the middle of the curve when it comes to combat, it was just not prioritized. It was difficult to grind for (drinking less effective antidotes resulted in the resistance growing faster than the Skill Level of healing spells), which left these branches often abandoned. In fact, being poisoned on purpose and using HP healing spells to survive until it wears off was easier and more effective for building resistance.
「So, try givin’ this to him.」
「…Will it really work?」
「It’s an antidote made from the stomach of a Berserker Bear, so it’ll work dandy with slow-actin’ poison.」
Although still suspicious, the man apparently decided to take his chances, since the two strangers didn’t seem malicious. He lowered the man from his back, and carefully pulled the bottle up to his mouth. The poisoned man, barely conscious, started drinking the liquid inside. His breathing gradually calmed.
「Toudou-san.」
「Mm-hm.」
Haruna, who took a glance at the man’s wound while he was drinking the antidote, activate a Novice healing spell to close up the wound.
「He should be all right, now.」
「That was quick.」
「It’s an adventurer’s blend, so it can’t be too slow treatin’ a little poison.」
The man nodded in agreement. The afflicted man slowly stood up as they watched.
「That potion really works well…」
「You two are a life-saver.」
「Please. We just happened to have the antidote.」
「Yessir. I just whipped ‘em up ‘cus I didn’t want the materials goin’ bad. Don’t worry ‘bout nothin’.」
The men stared back at the two teenagers who didn’t seem to understand how valuable it was to be able to create potions at such a high caliber just to make use of materials at hand. The men couldn’t help but look at these strangers up and down.
Their first impression was they were very young. Judging by their stature, they seemed to be adults, or fifteen, but just barely. The men were confident that the boy and girl were under twenty.
They had an immature attitude about them that made the men question how they could make such an effective potion. If Haruna’s body was closer to the Japanese average, they would have believed that she was twelve years old.
「Anyway, thank you. I must pay you for the potion. How much do I owe you?」
「I got no idea of the market value right now. How ‘bout enough to eat for a couple a days, and you show us the way to the closest town?」
「…No problem.」
Hiroshi answered honestly. The first man gave them half of what he was preparing to pay the doctor. Frankly, they were ripping the kids off quite a bit, but the men could tell that the boy and girl knew that fact, and didn’t mind too much.
「So, what are you two doing in these parts?」
「We’re a little lost, ya see…」
「We’re unfamiliar with the land, so we don’t know which way to go to get to town…」
「To top it off, we’re broke. We ain’t even sure we can get into town once we’re there…」
The men look at each other, witnessing that not only did these kids not know the lay of the land, but any general knowledge about this country. They were opportunistic enough to shortchange them for the potion, but they weren’t rotten nor damaged enough to leave these kids, who saved one of their lives, to rot. They were on their way to Wulls anyway, so they decided to have the kids tag along as they figured out how much they needed to teach them.
Not to mention that, the soft-looking guy aside, the girl looked like a decent fighter. It was possible that she could take both of them down. Judging from pieces of their conversations, the girl might be the sheepish-looking guy’s bodyguard.
「I understand. We were on our way to Wulls, anyway. Come with us.」
「Thank you very much.」
「No, we have to be thanking you. Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Randy, and that’s Kurt. We’re adventurers based in Wulls.」
Hiroshi and Haruna introduced themselves in return. The poisoned one was Kurt, and Randy was carrying him. They were both of a muscular build, and didn’t seem to possess much magical powers. Neither of them seemed to use much magic. Kurt seemed to be the more approachable one, but their difference in character seemed minimal.
According to them, they were class 7 adventurers, third from the bottom. In other words, they were just entering intermediary levels. These settings seemed to be carried over from the game, as Hiroshi was also a class 7 adventurer. Haruna was class 5, but rumor has it that, even some of the addicts of the game, who had made it halfway through the notoriously difficult fourth chapter of the main quest, still stuck at adventurer class 8 or 9.
「So, what happened that you’re lost and penniless around these parts?」
「Somethin’ real strange happned and we blacked out. When we came to, we were at the entrance of that forest over yon’.」
「…I get that a lot, lately.」
「…You know other folk like us?」
「Only in rumors. In Farlane, the court has ordered to take in those individuals. You should check in at the palace, soon.」
Hiroshi and Haruna couldn’t help but raise a brow in confusion. While the phenomenon that occurred to them was treated like mere rumors, the court had issued a decree to take people in afflicted by it. Strange.
「That means that the higher-ups in the country reckon these outlandish rumors are true…」
「Indeed it does.」
「Doesn’t anyone pretend to be affected by it?」
「Apparently, they have a way of telling who’s really been through it.」
Kurt answered Haruna’s question… Which only raised more questions.
「If they can tell, that means that there was at least one person who’s really…?」
「Ain’t sure. I ain’t sure, but it don’t sound right.」
「I wasn’t expecting it to go over without a hitch, but it’s getting more complicated than I expected.」
「We’re in for a load of trouble, ain’t we…?」
It seemed all too convenient. The thing with the antidote was, at best, a very lucky coincidence, but someone was behind the royal decree. Although, Hiroshi and Haruna foresaw that it would be difficult to get through this without getting themselves involved.
「In any case, we gotta fill our pockets, so we gotta figure out how to make money…」
「I’ll try singing for a bit. It’ll be acapella, so I don’t know how well it will work out, but…」
「Oh, do you sing, Haruna?」
「Somewhat, I guess.」
「Do you mind doing a quick song for us?」
Haruna nodded to Kurt’s request, and took a deep inhale before echoing her clear, pleasant voice through the area. Even the animals wondering by stopped to listen. Song of the Gods, held its power.
「…Who are you two? Really.」
「Just two lost kids.」
「Just two kids from the country who don’t know left from right, who might be starvin’ to death tomorrow if we don’t get no one’s help.」
Hiroshi and Haruna gave their non-answers to muddy the water… About a lot of things.