Unexpected Healer Book 2 -- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

If he had been expecting something different from Ashcleft, he would’ve been sorely disappointed.  As it was, given how similar the walls looked from the outside, he wasn’t surprised to find that the town of Hewndar was almost a carbon copy of the town he’d just left.  Upon closer inspection, he began picking out some differences, but they were almost all cosmetic in appearance; otherwise, as he walked inside, the buildings were in the exact same place.

Actual shops were in different places, however, and their names were different.  The local people weren’t the same, of course… at least he thought so.  He didn’t recognize any of the names, not that he had memorized any but a few that he visited multiple times while he was in Ashcleft, and none of the Charee he saw were the ones he recognized.  I realize it’s a bit racist of me, but they all look similar enough that if they didn’t have names above their heads, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.

One benefit of it being so familiar-seeming was that he felt more confident simply walking in and heading straight for some of the food merchants selling food along the streets without hesitation.  The first thing he needed was to replenish his food stores in his Inventory, as he didn’t quite have as much stored away as he’d have liked; he could only blame the fact that he’d had to leave without a lot of preparation.  But now it was time to fix that.

“Welcome!  I bet a young Contender like you could use something delicious to bring along on your journeys out there killing monsters, am I right?”  The friendly tone of the Charee merchant selling meat pies was so odd that Thaden froze for a few seconds without responding.  Ever since he’d arrived in Ashcleft, many of the Charee had treated him, if not like crap, then as somehow lesser than them, because he was thought not to be a Contender.  It was that attitude that led to him not feeling all that welcome the entire time he was there, but now he immediately felt like he was being valued and respected.

But the memory of how he was treated was still fresh on his mind, and he couldn’t help but think of the duplicitous nature of the locals and how they seemed to fawn over the Contenders.  From what he understood, they had been brought to the world of Tarth to prepare for the arrival of the Earthen Contenders, but he never did find out exactly why they were chosen to do so.  What did they get out of it?  Do they actually respect the Contenders, or are they faking it?

He didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to complain if they treated him better.  Even though it was a veneer that they pasted over themselves when talking to Contenders, he figured he would do his best to treat it as real.  There was no reason to call them out on it, after all, and it would only make them suspicious and unfriendly.

As soon as his shock had worn off, Thaden smiled back at the merchant and said, “Yes, that sounds lovely.  How much per pie?”

“For you, my friend, they’re only eight copper apiece.  Shall I package one or two up for you?”

  Three copper?  This same meat pie cost me around 45 copper in Ashcleft – if they’d even sell to me!

Looking at the 50 or so pies that smelled mouth-wateringly fresh, he waved at the whole bunch and said, “I’ll take them all.”

“Th-them all?  Are you sure?”

He removed 5 silver coins from his Inventory and placed them down in front of the merchant.  “Absolutely.  Will this cover them?”

“Y-yes, it will.  Let me get you the change and—”

“Don’t worry about the change; keep it.”

The Charee didn’t argue and Thaden quickly stored all of the pies in his Inventory, counting 51 when all was said and done.  He was slightly hungry since he’d eaten hours ago, but decided to wait to eat until he was on the road again.  Thanking the food merchant, he quickly found a Tailor and entered the store, intent to finish the rest of his shopping and leave as soon as possible.  Thankfully, the Tailor had some good-quality, lighter-colored clothing ready for purchase that he immediately snatched up, giving him another half-dozen outfits that he could alternate wearing on his journey. 

After that, he visited a general store and bought some sleeping rolls, a tent, enough rope to tie up a giant, a few lanterns and firestarters, and anything else that he was recommended might be good for a lengthy amount of time traveling across the land.

“Going on a long trip?” the Charee working at the general store asked. 

Thaden was tongue-tied for a moment before he managed to get something out.  “Uh, yes.”

“At your Level?  Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

As he was being asked the question, Thaden was already coming up with a plausible explanation.  He wasn’t sure how plausible it actually was, but he figured if he was going to come up with a story, using it with a non-Contender that he would probably never see again was a good way to practice.

“Probably not, but I’m confident enough in my abilities to stay alive,” he replied with a shrug.  “I’m searching for… a friend… that I, uh, met during Training.  Yeah, Training.  I’m sure she’s out there somewhere, and we really hit it off, so I want to find her.”

“Ah… yes, I understand.  I guess that love causes even Contenders to make stupidly dangerous decisions sometimes.”  He smiled as if to take the sting out of his words.  “I hope you find her, but try not to make any chances with your life.  I’d normally suggest that you wait until your Level is a little higher, but I doubt anything I said would change your mind.”

Thaden shook his head, adding an uncomfortable smile of his own.  “No, probably not.  Thank you for your help.”

“Not a problem, Contender.  Just stay alive; we’re going to need your help in the future, after all.”

Nodding, the Lifewarden hurriedly left the store, thinking about his story and how plausible it was.  The Charee didn’t seem as if there was anything amiss with it, so he could only assume that it might be common enough that it didn’t seem out of place.  Then again, the man might have just being polite – but he didn’t think so.

Regardless, after he finished picking up the last of the supplies he thought he would need, he started for the gate leading out from the town, only to nearly run into a group of laughing Contenders that were walking the opposite direction up the street.

“Whoa!  Sorry about that, uh, Christopher,” the older man said as Thaden quickly jumped back to avoid a collision. 

Michael

Human

Level 9

Michael appeared to be around age 35 or so, though with how additional Levels tended to make people appear younger over time, he could’ve been older.  He was at the head of a party of three others, and a quick glance at them indicated that they were the standard spread of Fighter, Mage, Scout, and Control – at least based on their armor and weaponry.  Michael seemed to be the Scout based on the bow he had around his shoulder, so Thaden could only assume he was an Archer of some sort. 

It took Thaden a moment to realize that Michael was talking to him because he wasn’t used to being called Christopher, but he quickly shook his head as he responded.  “Not a problem!  I wasn’t looking at where I was going, so really, it’s my fault.  Let me just get out of your way—”

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” the Archer interrupted him, not moving as he stared at the Lifewarden.  “You move quickly enough to be a Scout.”

“Uh, sure.  I’ve only recently arrived but was just about to leave,” Thaden admitted. 

“Where are you from?  You’re the first Contender we’ve seen from elsewhere.”

He was just about to say Ashcleft, but he stopped himself just in time; if anyone came looking for him, then it wouldn’t be too much trouble putting two and two together. 

Rubbing the back of his neck as he was suddenly nervous about all the questions, he answered, “Uh, well, it’s a bit a trek to, uh, New… Fork, which is where I arrived a little over a week ago.”  He had blanked for a moment when thinking of a name, and the only thing that came to his head was the city of New York. 

“New… Fork?  Where is that, exactly?  I don’t remember seeing it on any maps at the Coalition.”

“It’s, well, to the south?  I’m actually not too great at maps and directions, so I can’t tell you for certain.”

“South, huh?  Well, the maps here are practically worthless, in my opinion, so I guess it’s possible.  Why are you here, though?  Shouldn’t you be with a party back in New Fork?”

Slightly more confident since it seemed as though Michael had bought his explanation of his origins, he went on to explain the same thing he had told the general store merchant.  The Archer shook his head and sighed at his admission that he was looking for a woman he had “hit it off with”, though he saw that the Mage of Michael’s party, Lacey, was smiling at him.

“How romantic.  Just don’t get yourself killed over love, Christopher.  You’re better off waiting until you Level up a little more, even if you managed to get this far on your own.”

That was the second time he’d been given that advice, which made him wonder how dangerous it really was out there.  True, he’d seen some of those Boars which were above his faux Level, but he hadn’t really seen much else that looked to be much of a threat.

“Yes, well, I’ll keep that in mind.  Thank you.”

“How are you expecting to cross—” Michael began to ask, seemingly not done with his questions, but one of his other party members shook his shoulder.

“Enough.  Let the kid be.  You promised me a drink after we were done, if you remember?”

The Archer snapped his mouth shut and nodded.  “Hmph.  So I did.  Fine, let’s go,” he said to his party, before turning back to Thaden.  “Good luck out there, Christopher; you’re going to need it.”

    Thaden let out a relieved breath as soon as they walked away, and he hurried toward the town gates, on the lookout for any returning Contenders.  While he saw a few more as it was already late in the afternoon by this point, he took care to avoid them for the most part, as he didn’t relish another confrontation.  This close to Ashcleft, he was still paranoid of sticking around too long, and any unnecessary delays would only make his paranoia skyrocket.

In another couple of minutes he was out the gate opposite of where he had entered, heading toward what he thought was the northeast by this point.  He passed through more grassland almost identical to what he’d traveled through getting to Hewndar, all the while he went over the interactions he had with the people in the town.  He still wasn’t as comfortable adopting a new persona and essentially lying about everything as he’d liked, but the experience he obtained was nevertheless beneficial.  He now had a relatively plausible story to tell those wondering about his reason for traveling, and while he was obviously too low of a Level to travel, there was no restriction against it, apparently. 

But what he’d really learned was that no matter what town he went to, he was going to be the odd one out, as all the Contenders in those towns knew each other; if not personally, then by at least sight.  Moving far enough away from the town or city you started in wasn’t at all common, and just being a new face was enough to call attention to himself.  His paranoia reared its head again as he realized that if he stopped by each and every town he encountered along the way, it would be easy enough for someone to track his movements – even if he was going by a different name and Level now.  All it would take was a simple question about any strangers passing through town and he would be traced so easily that even Chad could do it.

What he needed was someplace where he wouldn’t be noted immediately upon entering; either that, or he needed to move so far away that it hopefully wouldn’t matter if anyone was trying to track him down. 

Or am I going too far with this?  Are they really going to follow me from Ashcleft?  Will they do everything they can to find me?  Why?  Just so that they can kill me?  Is it really that important?

He… wasn’t sure.  With how many of the Contenders in Ashcleft acted, especially their bloodthirsty manners, he was inclined to think so.  But logically, it made no sense for them to stunt their own development just to chase him down. 

Until he knew either way, he wasn’t going to take any chances.  With that in mind, he decided to err on the side of caution and avoid towns from that point on.  He wasn’t looking forward to camping out in the open every single night and already missed his bed back at the Coalition, but he thought it was a small price to pay for his own peace of mind. 

But that would only last until he found somewhere with a lot of people that would allow him to blend in better.  Like a city, for instance.  He knew they existed, at least according to the Rankings, and he could only assume that they had thousands of Contenders rather than just a few hundred, meaning that it was less likely that the other Contenders would know everyone on sight.  If he was able to integrate himself into a city like that, then he would be better able to establish his persona better, throwing off all suspicion that he was the person at the top of many of the Rankings. 

Then, and only then, would he be able to contemplate his next steps.

It was only a few hours before he was forced to camp as darkness fell, and unfortunately he didn’t see any climbable trees anywhere near him.  As a result, he set up a tent in a hollow along the landscape, about a half-mile from the road, and bedded down in his semi-comfortable bedroll that he’d just bought from Hewndar. 

He ended up waking up a few times during the night when loud rustling, heavy footsteps, and low growls could be heard outside of his tent, but after a quick look outside, he went back to sleep shortly thereafter.  A bunch of Level 14 Meadow Bears were scary-looking since they weighed at least a ton and stood 6 feet tall at the shoulder, but they completely ignored his presence just like every other low-Level monsters that he’d seen thus far.  Similar to the Bladetusk Boars of the night before, it was almost comforting having them around, as it would make most any other Contenders looking for him have to roam through their territory to get to him.

Over the next two weeks, he followed a routine of waking up, eating a meat pie from his Inventory, jogging along the road until he saw another town, giving it a wide berth as he avoided it and any other Contenders he saw, and then resuming his jog down the road once he was past it.  The whole time, the strongest monster he saw anywhere near the road was Level 15, which was a large Root Snake that was partially camouflaged among the roots of a large tree, and everything else simply ignored him as if he wasn’t there. 

He encountered two forks in the road along the way, each of them with signposts that indicated where he was going, but he didn’t recognize any of the names, of course.  Therefore, each time he took what appeared to be the most-traveled and most-upkept-looking road, as he hoped that meant he was getting close to a large city – or at least a large enough town that he might be able to incorporate himself without sticking out too much.

The environment didn’t change much over the weeks he journeyed, with alternating grasslands and small forests for most of it, though that changed on the fifteenth day after he passed what he thought was the tenth town in a row since he left Hewndar.  As he broke through the forest that surrounded the town like a preplanned border, he was shocked to see in the distance a massive man-made – or at least Charee-made – structure seemingly carved right out of the side of a mountain that rivaled the one he had fallen down shortly after his arrival. 

It only took a few seconds for him to realize the structure was a giant fortification that spanned for miles along the mountain, with walls that were at least twice as high as the ones that protected the towns he’d passed along the way.  An enormous military-style castle was located at the top rear of the fortification, with turrets, murderholes, and what he thought might some sort of siege weaponry installed along its walls, and there were thousands of buildings and openings leading inside the mountain that could be seen in addition to everything else. 

It was actually so large that it took him another day to arrive close enough to make out even more details, one of which made him instantly happy. 

There were tens of thousands of people inside the city; perhaps even hundreds of thousands, if the entryways into the mountain contained any sort of living spaces.  Even better, as he passed dozens of Contenders leaving out of and arriving at one of five different gates that led into the massive stone city built into the side of the mountain, not a single one so much as glanced at him for more than a split-second.  To them, he was just one of countless Contenders that seemed to be stationed in the city of… wherever this was.

Perfect.  That’s exactly what I needed.