Chapter 33 - Missed Connections

Nate woke with the sun and after enjoying a quick breakfast made his way across the square. Even at this early hour the square was bustling, with workmen, merchants and shop assistants setting up their stalls and laying out their wares. He could smell some freshly baked bread and almost diverted to see if there were any pastries available. But Kiri would be waiting and though she wouldn’t mind if he was a little late, likely using the time to flirt with Melinda, it didn’t sit well with Nate not to be there when they had agreed to meet.

He strolled in through the Adventurer’s Guild double doors expecting to see a couple of teams, one at the desk maybe with another team checking over the job board, and Kiri lingering around the desk chatting with Melinda. Instead he walked into absolute bedlam. There was Kiri, by the desk as he had expected, but instead of chatting to Melinda she had a worried look on her face as she watched the chaos.

Aisling was off to the side, talking quietly with three people Nate didn’t recognise. Melinda was at the desk with what looked like a map in front of her, pointing to it as she talked to a few people. There were enough people present to account for four teams of Adventurers, maybe more if some of them functioned in smaller teams, like Kiri and he did. The Adventurers were checking backpacks and equipment, looking like they were getting ready to set out, a few even lounging and oiling weapons.

Nate moved over to Kiri and whispered to her, “What’s going on? This looks like someone kicked a nest of…something.” He still caught himself as he went to use idioms, making him sound foolish, but at least not using words no one would recognise.

“One of the usual merchant caravans went missing five days ago. There was a job to investigate posted by the Mayor. The team that took the job hasn’t returned. They should’ve been back yesterday at the latest”, she paused for a moment, biting her lip. “They were a full team of Silvers.”

“No chance they just had to follow the trail further from Helmfirth than they had expected?”

“No chance. If that had been the problem they’d have returned and reported their findings. Maybe Lorimer would’ve sent a message to another Guildhouse if it seemed like bandits or a beast were roaming away from Helmfirth. It’s… it’s most likely they’re dead. But the Guild won’t risk another team alone, so they’re paying for almost all the Silver teams to go investigate together.”

“Well… shit. Are we going to?” He asked.

She snorted and it brought a small smile to her face for a moment, “Because of you, we’re rated as a Bronze team. For now anyway.”

Nate nodded. They were probably competent enough to be considered Silver, but until he paid for the assessment they’d be classed as a Bronze team with Silver ‘capability’ which meant the Guild could deny them Silver jobs if they thought there was a serious risk to their lives. Still, there was a reason Nate had asked if they were going.

“Did you know them? The missing team?”

Kiri nodded slightly, “Hard not to. Town isn’t that big. Less than one hundred frequent members of the Guild. They were nice enough. Better than some, worse than others. Still, no one likes to be reminded of their mortality. Another of dad’s sayings.”

Nate looked over the bustle of twenty people crowding the Guild entrance again.

“If we’re not helping, we’re just staying out of the way till they leave?”

“Yeah. Though I think we’ll look for jobs in the opposite direction of Pinewater today. Maybe out towards where I found you, if there are any collection jobs that way,” Kiri replied.

Nate nodded and settled in to wait.

He hadn’t expected it to take long but they ended up discussing and planning for over an hour before the Adventuring teams set out, map in hand and a fairly good plan. A big part of the discussion had centred around who would be leading the expedition.

After that, it didn’t take Kiri long to pick out two collection jobs that would take them out towards the Heart of the Forest, in the opposite direction of the expedition. Less than an hour later they had crossed into the forest and Frick slipped free of the Familiar Contract, floating alongside the pair. Nate’s wariness of the forest and its denizens had grown after their repeated ventures, encouraged along by Kiri’s warnings, and so the moment they entered he’d spun up one of his Barrier runes, feeding it enough mana so that it should at least absorb any surprise attacks.

Kiri broke the pleasant silence as they walked through the forest's outskirts, turning to Nate with a grin.

“So, show me this painting, m’lord,” she teased him. “You know I tried to get Valeria to give me a hint and she looked positively scandalised. Said she’d never talk about what her patrons got up to in their rooms. I think if it wasn’t for our friendship she’d have kicked me out then and there. It was soooo good. Let's see if your painting can top that.”

Nate smiled and moved over to stand next to one of the tree trunks. This far out of the forest they weren’t quite as giant but the trunk of this tree was still almost two metres in diameter. Reaching into his spatial storage with his mana he extracted the painting leaning it up against the tree before moving over to Kiri to stand next to her. He didn’t want to let her know, but he truly cared about what she thought. It was quite personal, revealing his art. Normally with his graffiti he wasn’t there to see how others received it.

He watched as Kiri’s eyes roved it, before turning back to look over his painting himself. The painting was of Aisling, standing on a hill before snow capped mountains, a forest between them. A storm thundered above and lightning struck down as Aisling held a spear taller than she was. He’d based it on the feeling he’d gotten when Aisling had first come down the stairs at the Guildhouse. Like the air itself was charged. Kiri was silent for almost a minute before she smiled.

“It’s incredible. I love it. Only… I didn’t realise you were into big women. I could introduce you to a couple more if Aisling doesn’t bite after you show her this.”

“I’m not showing it to anyone else. And I’m not into ‘big women’. Least I don’t think I am. Jeez, we’re not all huge flirts like you,” Nate retorted. His response just elicited a smirk from Kiri.

“Well, that’s a shame. She’d probably give you a shot if you showed it to her. Your loss, I guess. She’s a whole lotta woman.”

Nate just rolled his eyes moving over to store the picture before, lacking any subtlety, he pulled out his other painting. This was the first painting he’d created in this world. It depicted the swirl of colours as he’d passed between universes, a kaleidoscopic rainbow that hinted at planetoids and gas clouds in every colour imaginable. He was half convinced he lacked the eyes to fully see all that there was in that trip and with his improved memory, it had been the first thing he wanted to recreate.

He watched Kiri’s reaction as she studied the picture alongside Frick. Her face was serious, as though she was trying to extract the meaning from the painting, while Frick had a knowing look in his blue eyes.

“It’s nice… but I don’t know what it is meant to show,” Kiri said, looking to him for help.

“Before I tell you, this relates to the secrets I have been keeping. It’s not just about my Class. So, before I tell you, before you commit to knowing this and the potential danger comes from knowing, are you sure you want to know Kiri?” He said, glancing at the painting.

Nate had half expected Kiri to immediately double down on finding out his secret, but she paused to give it serious thought, scrunching up her face as she did so.

“Yeah Nate, I am sure. Being an Adventurer is dangerous and I want to walk my Path as far as I can, no matter what. We’re friends… best friends as you put it, and yeah, we’re teammates. I’ve got your back, no matter what your secrets are. So let's have it out and we’ll figure it out. Together,” she finished with her trademark grin.

“Alright Kiri, here goes.”

With that he willed his Status to display for all of them.

Kiri looked at it for a moment, “What is a Wandering Runecrafter… oh by all the Gods…”

She’d clearly started with his Class name and not the rarity as her jaw had dropped and she looked speechless for a few seconds before words tumbled out of her mouth, “I was so sure you were an Epic Classer… Legendary… without an evolution… I… I’ve never even heard of that happening! Dad’s second evolution in his Primary and he’s only got a few levels in his new Epic class. How is that even possible?!?”

Nate nodded along as she spoke before holding up his hands, “It relates to the second secret. One that might make a lot less sense to you. I… I’m not from this world. This universe actually, but not sure if you would even know that word.”

Kiri frowned at him, “What do you mean you’re not from this world? And what’s a ‘universe’?”

Frick chimed in, “A universe is a collection of worlds and stars in a defined spatial space. Very very large space. There you go boss man, super simplified, goblin-style.”

Nate facepalmed and continued, “I was pulled into a God's portal from my own world, a place without a mana.”

“A God? Really? Can you prove it? And which one?” Kiri fired questions at him rapidly, looking a little frantic as she paced back and forth.

“His name was Arikanvil. Though he also called himself The Wanderer. Gave me this spatial ring and the gold and mana gems,” Nate responded, feeling ready to start pacing himself.

Frick froze, looking at his Status sheet then back at Nate, “Did you say, The Wanderer? Arikanvil the Relentless? The Mad Researcher himself? And he just what, let you live? Didn’t try and experiment on you, a Dead Realmer?”

Kiri piped in, “What’s a Dead Realmer?”

Frick shot back, “Someone who comes from a universe without mana.”

Kiri looked confused at that but didn’t say anything, turning to Nate as they both waited.

“He seemed… kind of friendly to me.”

“Did he ask you for anything?” Frick asked.

“Umm, yeah, some technology from my world.”

Frick nodded, “Law of reciprocity. Must’ve been something he really wanted if he let you go.”

Nate looked confused and was about to open his mouth when Frick continued, “Don’t ask me about the details. I’ve never been contracted to someone that rose that high. All I know is it becomes more important the higher you go and once you contain enough mana it becomes ‘law’. To violate it is to damage yourself. Shit, boss man. You got lucky.”

Kiri waved her arms, “Let's say everything you’ve said is true. That you’re from another world and came here through a portal and met a God. How does that end with you getting a Legendary… oh… oh… the Achievements! No mana and then those Achievements! I get it. Okay, that would make sense. But that means you were level one… in a Dungeon?”

Kiri looked at Nate questioningly and he nodded back to her, “I got Frick when I was level six or something. Copied some runes from Arikanvil’s research station. That managed to save my life. Almost died a few times.”

Frick frowned at Nate, “Where’s the research station?”

Nate pointed straight up into the sky, which satisfied Frick and confused Kiri, after which she looked back at his painting, the silence stretching for a few minutes before she shrugged.

“So, where does the painting come into it?” She asked, a small smile returning to her face.

Nate smiled. She was clearly still working through the information overload, but at least she hadn’t rejected the truth outright.

“That’s what it looked like, between universes. When I was sucked into the portal, I was in this bubble and outside the bubble, that,” he said pointing at the painting, “stretched across the entirety of existence. It was so beautiful, I had to paint it.”

Kiri nodded and they stood for a few more minutes in silence before she quietly asked, “Do you plan to go home?”

Nate thought about it. He still wasn’t sure which way he wanted to go. But either way, it couldn’t hurt to see if it was possible for him to return home. It would push his magic and he had his runes that could eventually accomplish it, perhaps. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to get to Arikanvil’s level to do so, but even if he did, so what? There were worse goals than aiming for the top.

“I don’t know Kiri. Maybe. Even if I did, it would be the work of decades, if not a lifetime. That was according to The Wanderer. So even if I do decide I would like to go home, you’re stuck with me for a long time yet. Unless you’ve no time for me once Melinda eventually capitulates,” Nate said with an amused smirk.

Kiri punched him in the arm, “Ha! I’d never trade you in for a fling. She’s cute and all but I have such a short attention span for lovers. I’ll leave her broken-hearted in a few more weeks. You know how it is. The beautiful adventurer roaming the countryside, solving problems and breaking hearts!”

Nate rolled his eyes which earned him another punch and a grin from Kiri. Seemed it was all going to be okay.

“Come on my Legendary teammate. We’ve still got a job to do unless m’lord is too high and mighty to harvest shadow tassel,” Kiri teased, slipping her bow back up onto her shoulder and turning to head deeper into the forest.

Nate quickly stored his painting, before following, Frick floating ahead of him. He’d worried about this reveal for a while now but everything had gone better than expected. Adjusting his robe and activating his barrier he hurried after them until he’d caught up to Kiri. One problem solved, now he just needed to solve his Improve Material evolution issue before he got to level twenty one. It wasn’t far now, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Today was about harvesting herbs with his best friend and Familiar.