“I- Uh..” Veronica had barely managed to respond at the sight of the out-reached bandaged hand.
“Are you okay?” Asked the person. Their short brown hair waved in the wind as their amber eyes stared at her. The interaction was getting extremely awkward. She had nearly died to a Wither, only to be saved by a mage? She was still processing all that had happened.
“Yeah,” she said while getting up by herself.
“Good to hear,” They said as they put their hands back to their waist.
Bike and Cardinal rushed over to them, their faces being partly covered by the smoke left from the mage at first. Cardinal’s ears went upward at the sight of them, “Your’e okay!” he said enthusiastically.
“Yeah,” Veronica said again.
Bike sighed in relief, “You’re okay, and I don’t have to heal because you took no damage!” Everyone laughed at his statement.
“Millie?” Cardinal asked as he turned his face to the wizard.
“Millie?” The wizard said, puzzled as they positioned their finger on their chin. “I don’t recall ever being called that, but you can call me Fern.”
“Sorry, Fern,” Cardinal said with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Well, I have to get going,” Fern said as he adjusted his hat.
“Where?” Veronica asked.
“There are some important things I need to attend to, apologies. From the path you were on, I figured you were headed to Wistgardia.”
Me and Bike nodded while Cardinal said, “Yeah.”
“Keep going forward, take the path to the left, and you’ll find an Inn to spend the night at, here’s some change,” Fern took out a bag and threw it to them, before using an air spell to propel himself upward, soon becoming out of sight.
“Strange,” Bike said.
“Indeed,” Veronica said in agreement.
“Strange rich guy!” Cardinal said in excitement as he dissected the goods within the bag with his knees crouched.
“How much is in it?” Veronica asked.
“300 coins!” Cardinal said as he put it back in.
Bike chuckled as Cardinal got back on his feet.
They gathered our things that had been lost throughout the forest, having enough time to get on the path. The path started the way it did, minus the new smell of smoke in the air.
Every few steps was met with a snarky remark from Cardinal, a clueless comment from Bike, or a display of how over everything Veronica was.
They walked long enough for the sun to start leaving, an indicator that their time was almost up.
“When do you think we will get there?” Bike asked as he slouched over.
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“At some point,” Cardinal said while he trekked forward.
They continued on the path, the moon becoming a reality as it got darker and darker. Eventually, they came to another stop on the road. There was a broken carriage in the midst of the stone, stone that had taken the place of the earthy forest path we came from. There were about three people standing outside of it with their horses.
“Who goes there?” Yelled out a peasant man near the carriage.
“Friendlies!” Cardinal yelled back as he covered the sides of his mouth to amplify the sound.
“Ugh, another issue,” Veronica said in her mind as they got closer. The stops in the path to Wistargadia were becoming almost comical to her.
They eventually came in full contact with the group, their faces looking blessed by the relief Veronica and crew’s sight brought them.
“Thank the gods! We need your help!” Yelled the man.
“With what?” Cardinal asked while getting a view of the carriage.
“My wife and children are hungry, we lost one of our wheels, and the last one gave out. Would you mind helping us?”
Veronica started to speak while thinking rationally, “Well, it-” Before she could finish, Bike had answered for her and Cardinal.
“Of course we can!”
Her eyes rolled internally again.
“Thank you so much!” The man said happily.
“Where can we find it?” Cardinal asked.
The man pointed his finger north, “A bit over there.”
Veronica gave in to the need to help the family, “What about the broken tire?” she asked.
“We can make it last longer with the materials we have, we just need some sap.” The man said.
“I can get the sap!” Bike said while raising his hand.
Cardinal turned to Veronica, “I guess that leaves me and you for the wheel.”
Veronica nodded and followed Cardinal as they all took their leave from the spot on the road.
They weeded through branches and bushes, something made easier with Cardinal’s daggers. They got further north in the forest and came to a small clearing.
“What’s that?” Cardinal asked as he pointed to a piece of wood that laid near a smeared tree.
“Probably a part of the carriage,” Veronica said.
She followed the bits of wood starting from the tree, making her way to a part of the forest where the wheel was.
“That was quick,” Cardinal said while putting his dagger away.
“Almost too quick,” Veronica said while eyeing the area.
This felt like one of those annoying subquests that takes longer than it seems on paper. Veronica took a good amount of those in the Fae Forest on her alt account, It had to be the same case here.
Within moments of Veronica's survey of the area, rustling was heard from the bushes, event signaled by the raising of Cardinal’s ears.
Veronica looked at him and nodded as we approached the rustling as it made its way to the wheel.
The rustling stopped, showing the culprit of it to be a snake.
“Nevermind,” Veronica said. She turned to the cardinal and he sighed in relief.
His relief didn’t last forever, his face turned downward as he pointed to her leg. “Uh, Ver…” He started.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s on you.” he said.
Veronica looked down and saw it- the snake. It had clamped onto her leg and she didn’t feel it. It was probably the result of her Undead-ness.
Feeling there was nothing to lose, especially with the family being so far from them, she used Summon Skeleton, “Summon Skeleton!”
A skeleton rose from the ground and grabbed at the snake, snapping it in half after bending it with its grip.
[-30]
“Was that necessary?” Cardinal asked.
“No, but I wanted to do it,” she said.
As Cardinal went to get the wheel Veronica’s vision started showing more than numbers again.
{New Skill: Raise Minor Dead}
Confused, Veronica muttered the Skill name to the snake. After a few seconds, a blue and black aura enveloped the snake, causing both of its halves to move on their own.
“Gnarly,” Cardinal said as he came to her with the wheel in hand. After a few seconds her mana had fully depleted and the snake had died again. She clearly had no mastery of the skill, or the mana to use it at its fullest potential.
They made their way back to the road, met with the sight of Bike talking to the family.
“We’re back!” Cardinal yelled as he waved the wheel.
The man clapped in joy as they approached, followed by a wave from Bike.
“Did you guys have any trouble?” Bike asked.
“None at all,” Cardinal said.
“Not for you,” Veronica said. Cardinal giggled as he handed the wheel over to the man.
“I don’t know how to repay you,” The man said.
At the moment, the wife had reached into the carriage and brought out an item. “Take this,” she said as she handed it over to Cardinal. It was a bundle of hay.
“Hay?” Veronica said.
The woman laughed a little, “Not just any hay, hay from Wistgardia, something very sought after, given the war.”
Veronica's interest was piqued, so was Cardinal’s which was told by the grin on his face.
The man thanked them and put the wheel back on the carriage, preparing it and then taking off with his family. Cardinal put the hay in his main sack and the group made their way to the inn, the night being in full effect.
“Room for how many?” The innkeeper asked.
“Just Three,” Cardinal said as he motioned to Veronica and Bike.
“That’ll be 200 coins,” The innkeeper said as he held out his hand.
“Yeah…” Cardinal said as he emptied the entire bag of coins onto the table.
“Scam,” Cardinal whispered as the woman working for the inn led them to their room.
The day ended with a successful sub-quest, and an interesting new figure.
