“Hey kids!” I jolted awake, my heart suddenly beating fast at the loud voice.
My father!
He was in my… It gradually faded as I looked around the tent.
I breathed heavy for a few moments as I realized I wasn’t in my room back in Clifton.
I haven’t been there for a while now… “Kids!
It’s me, Peter!
Your tent neighbor!
We’re having a neighbor meeting, and we wanted to include you two!” My heart gradually began to slow.
Safe.
We were safe.
I looked down at the book my face had been planted on.
The history book.
It certainly didn’t seem brief to me.
But it was still interesting.
Learning about the country, our history, the different regions.
It made me realize how much bigger the world was than I realized… “We’ll be out in a few minutes!” Rey called back and grumbled at the abrupt wake-up call too.
We both pushed up, and did our morning things, brushing our hair, brushing our teeth, changing under the blankets.
When we were presentable, we untied the tent and crawled outside.
Everyone was outside.
Both of our neighbor groups, and a few other parties, who were all chatting.
The Iron Maidens had two more people too.
It was early, the sun just up, and we trotted over to the table they had set up between all our tents.
Lupa spotted us first, and waved.
“Oh, the kids are here!
Hello!
Come and sit!” We hesitated before joining the adults at the big table.
Mel introduced us to the two other women with them.
One was at the head of the table, she had long straight black hair like Rey’s, and her skin tone was… unique.
As was her brown, almond shaped eyes.
Next to her was a woman with a dark ebony skin tone, and her hair was very short.
She seemed to exude an aura of elegance, watching the proceedings with a bored expression.
Mel introduced them to us.
“Kids, this is Akari and Rhina.
Akari is our party leader, and Rhina is an amazon, she wields a spear and is really strong.” Akari snorted.
“Wow, thanks for that resounding introduction, Mel.
It’s nice to meet you, Rey and Kat, right?” We both nodded, and Peter explained.
“So kids, this plaza has been filled up.
And everyone here is here to stay for the winter.
That’s why we decided to get all our neighbors together and discuss the possibility of a communal cooking schedule.” A communal… Rey asked before I could.
“What’s that?” This time, Akari answered.
“Essentially, we’ll set up a communal fire pit and kitchen.
Everyone will pitch in every week for food, so we can buy in bulk, and we all save money.
There’ll be a schedule that rotates who cooks for everyone every night, so everyone also saves time by not having to cook all the time.
Would the two of you be interested in joining?” Huh.
If we could save money… “How much would we pay each week?” Peter hummed.
“The two of you are real small.
I’ve seen you buying at the food carts… let’s say thirty coppers a week.” Oh?
We usually spent a hundred copper a week on food.
That would really help us save our coppers… I looked over at Rey to see what he thought.
He asked his own question.
“Um, for preparing the food, I’m decent at cooking but I’ve never cook for so many people before…” True.
There was probably about twenty people in our neighborhood, joining the community.
But Peter just chuckled.
“Oh, we wouldn’t make tots like you cook for all of us.
Tell you what, we’ll put you on helping duty two or three days a week, and you can help the cooks get it all made.
That should be plenty for you to contribute.” After that, a few more questions were asked like what meals it would cover and hashing out schedule details.
It was decided that whoever was responsible for cooking that day would make breakfast and dinner, but everyone would be on their own for lunch.
How much to contribute per group per week, and by the time the meeting was finished the sun was starting to peek over the walls.
Everyone broke off once the meeting was over, except Akari and Peter, who continued talking logistics and where to order the food in bulk.
The first three days of the week, we were on helping duty, so we’ll have to wake up early to help with breakfast and be back early in time to help with dinner.
But in exchange, our contribution fee was lower than the others, and we got first dibs for leftovers for lunch.
I thought it was worth it, as we jogged out to the south gate.
Seventy copper every week was nothing to sneeze at.
As we neared the gate, I spotted the training field.
It was a lot bigger than the one at Duval, and I instantly noticed the guards.
Uh oh… We both stopped, and watched a party walk up to the guards and pay them.
Then they went into the field and started training.
Rey sighed.
“Seriously?
Even training in an empty field costs money?” Was this what being an adult was like?
Everyone charging you all the time?
I groaned.
“Being independent is hard.” “Let’s go ask how much it is…” We went up to the guards to get prices.
It was two copper a person per day.
Or you can pay thirty copper a person for an entire month of access.
We reluctantly paid our sixty coppers, and they stamped our guild cards with some special ink that would last a month before wearing off.
Since we were already there, we decided to get our training over with.
I practiced my spells and telekinesis as Rey went through his drills with his swords, finding an empty dummy to practice with.
We both ended with a two-mile run.
That took us up to lunch, and we ate at a nearby food stall, hopefully for the last time in a while.
Then we finally left the gate, entering the Third District.
I averted my eyes from the people living in scrap wood buildings and the worn tents.
I just hoped we didn’t run into any trouble out here.
Outside the ring of crappy wooden buildings and tents were the dungeons.
We stopped by the entrance of the forest dungeon, checking our map.
Rey traced the outside of the forest, which was pretty clearly lineated by the lack of trees.
“Okay, we can loop around this dungeon.
Then we can decide whether or not to do the meadow dungeon.” I shielded my eyes and looked down the well-trod trail.
“How many miles is it?” “About… five all the way around.
The meadow dungeon is about six.” I groaned.
I was already tired from doing our training.
It reminded me why usually trained after work.
“Then I think the forest dungeon is just fine.
We need to keep our eyes out for deer too.” I readied my wand as Rey nodded.
And we started off to the right.
I scanned the ground for the telltale blue sheen.
There weren’t many to be found.
We only caught three.
I had better luck hunting, finding tracks for a deer and following them.
I managed to bag a young buck, and together we dragged it back to the southern gate.
I didn’t really like the way the people of the Third District eyed our deer.
I kept my wand close.
But we managed to get to the guild with no problems.
We accidentally brought it inside before the receptionist showed us a window for bartering whole carcasses.
It was outside, so we didn’t have to drag the bloody deer in.
Oops.
We apologized before getting paid for completing the quest.
We checked the other quests, picking up a quest for three rabbits.
By the time we got back to the plaza, our feet were dragging.
The sun was already setting, but a delicious smell from our campsite helped perked us up.
There was a raised stone pit now, with a bubbling pot full of stew.
Our neighbors milled around, eating and chatting as the Iron Maidens served everyone and took care of the food.
Lupa smiled at us as we walked up.
“There you are.
We got a good deal on vegetables, so we decided to make some cream chicken stew for everyone tonight.
Here, eat up you two.
We have some fresh bread too.” Wow.
She poured the creamy stew into our bowls, not being shy with the portions.
It was more than what we usually ate for dinner.
And she gave us two big hanks of bread too.
We thanked her and walked over to the table.
The Jolly Fools were there, eating their own bowls of cream stew.
Peter greeted us as we sat down.
“Hey, it’s the munchkins!
I spotted you two training at the field this morning.
You’re both dedicated!
I was just telling Louis here you’re a spellcaster too Kat.” I looked over at Louis, who did seem more interested now.
He swallowed his bite of stew before speaking.
“I’m surprised to see another person who can use mana here.
Uh, have you reached the third tier yet?” I shook my head.
“No, I’m still trying to master telekinesis, so I’m still second tier.
My mana arrow is really good though!” His eyebrows shot up.
“Really?
Most people I know learn telekinesis first.
It’s really useful.
What made you learn mana arrow first?” Peter elbowed him in the side, and he jerked.
“Ow!
What was that for!?” “Louis, remember what we talked about?” Peter gave him a scary smile.
Louis huffed and turned away.
“How could that question possibly be insensitive…” I watched the exchange, wondering what was going on between them, idly munching on my stew.
“Um, I don’t mind answering.
I learned mana arrow first because it’s better for hunting.
Mana bolt can’t quite kill things with the first shot…” Louis’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, for damage output!
That makes sense.
You must be very dedicated to adventuring to pick up a better attacking skill first.” “I guess so.
Mostly I needed it so we can hunt on the road.
And selling the jerky and pelts can make us money.” “O-Oh.
Yeah, I guess it would be practical for that…” Louis trailed off, looking a little guilty.
He shied away from Peter, who rolled his eyes and broke the awkward silence.
“Louis has recently reached tier-three and become a mage.
Maybe he can give you some tips to master telekinesis?” Louis eagerly nodded.
“Yeah!
I can totally help with that if you want!” “Uh, then can you tell me how I keep my grip from slipping?” He launched into an in-depth explanation, and I listened, telekinesis finally clicking.
I even showed him by picking up my fork, and it wobbled a lot, but I managed to move it around without my control slipping.
While that was happening, Rey chatted with Peter and Jax, explaining he dual-wielded rapiers.
Peter actually used a short sword, so they talked tips and techniques, Rey picking up some extra wisdom too.
When we finished eating, they bid us goodnight cheerfully.
We headed into our tent, in higher spirits than before.
Rey collapsed in bed.
“So… that’ll be the next couple of months for us.
What do you think?” “We’re going to be busy.” It was just a statement of fact.
Honestly, I think I preferred it this way.
He turned and grabbed his sailing book.
“Might as well read until I get sleepy.
Can you turn on the lantern and heater?” “Sure thing.” I turned and popped a slime core in each, and they began emitting light and heat respectively.
Right after that though, began hearing cheers and awe from outside.
We looked at each other before crawling out.
Everyone was looking up.
I looked up too.
Small flakes of white drifted down from the sky.
The first snow of the winter.
Rey chuckled and stuck out his tongue, catching one.
It made me giggle and I decided to try too.
We ended up chasing snowflakes for the next few minutes, playing around.