The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 7
When I examined the item’s quality, though, I was left rather disappointed. Despite its apparent value, the scimitar was little more than a decoration, its quality being actually worse than the one Denise first bought in Coatin. Maybe if I don’t understand the crafting process, I can’t make high quality items…
The reasons for me to get a crafting skill just kept piling up, like the world itself was screaming it at me. Well, I can take a hint. Once I got to Kirrin, I’d invest time and effort into learning carpentry. I could probably avoid needing a high strength to chop wood if I used my Wind Blade and Leaf Blade Assault spells to do the work for me.
As I was thinking this, the detection crystal alerted me of multiple contacts, one after another. It was clear we were approaching the Kirrin harbor, and the alerts were just other ships approaching the port with us. Moving out to the main deck, my suspicion was confirmed as I tossed the worthless sword over the side of the ship.
Kirrin was actually a fair bit larger than Thurgil, and by the size of it I assumed this was the starter area for new players in the Shattered Realm. In the distance, there were several people in common villager attire running back and forth on the docks. With my Worldlore, I was able to clearly distinguish them as foreigners. This was mostly because they had terrible names that nobody would ever call their child.
Watching the masses of foreigners, I found myself suddenly concerned. Given that many of them likely want off the island, there is a good chance they would try to steal the Unity, isn’t there? While the ship had many features that would protect it while I was on board, there was little I could do once I disembark. “Damn… and it’s too late to send the ship to Hell, unless we want to make an even bigger scene.”
Denise walked up behind me, having apparently noticed we were close to the dock as well. “What’s the matter?” She was holding onto Midnight, leading him to the edge of the deck to stand next to me.
“Just worried that someone might try to take the ship while we’re gone.”
“Hmm, I see. Well, if it’s just that, why not hire someone to guard it? You could easily afford it, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Yeah… that could work.” If there was one thing that spoke to everyone, it was money. “I’ll ask the harbormaster when we get off. It would suck royally if we had to wait around to get another ship, not to mention the possibility that Mana Wood might not grow around here.”
“True. Well, it’s not like we’ll be far away if something happens, right?” She looked out to the nearby town, and I chuckled.
“This isn’t the main city in Kirrin, it’s just the port. This island has the capital of the kingdom on it. According to the map in our room, it should be at least a day’s ride to it.” Kirrin was much larger than the island where we fought the dragon, being nearly a hundred miles from end to end, easily the largest island in the Shattered Realm.
“Ah… yes, that could be a problem. Well, first let’s see if they have a crafting hall or something in this city before we move on the the capital.”
“Good idea.” I nodded to her, dropping anchor and tying us to the dock once we were next to it. Given the size of our ship, it must have looked strange for only two humans and a horse to be seen getting off, with nobody else visible on the ship. By now I had already changed to my archer disguise, equipped with a bow and leather armor.
The first order of business was to find the harbormaster, which was a very easy task because the slender man came running up to greet us. “Welcome, welcome to Kirrin, the heart of the kingdom. Is there anything I can do for you?” He looked expectantly to the ship behind us, as if expecting more crew members to suddenly appear.
“You’re the harbormaster, correct?” He was vastly different compared to the overweight man that managed the Grazel harbor.
“Yes, yes, that’s right. May I have your name to register your ship?” It seemed like this was standard procedure, as I saw other people approaching dock workers after they landed, handing over a bit of coin.
“My name is Jin, captain of the ship Unity.”
“Very good. The standard docking fee is just fifty gild, but if you plan to stay for a while it will cost more, obviously.”
“That’s fine. We’ll probably be here at least two weeks, maybe as much as a month. How much would it cost for that entire time?”
At my question, the harbormaster had a somewhat troubled expression. “Hmm.. a month you say.. well.. the cost would be a thousand gild for a full month. I hope this isn’t a problem, good sir.”
Casually, I pulled out ten golden coins and handed them over. “It’s not a problem. Also, I need to hire a guard for my ship while I’m gone. Since there are just the two of us, we need someone to make sure it isn’t stolen when we aren’t present.”
“Just the two of you? Ah, this must be quite the splendid ship. Yes, I see. I can arrange to have a guard posted at all times. But.. that will cost quite a bit more.. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Having expected this, I nodded and pulled out a single platinum coin. One of these was worth a hundred gold coins. Seeing this, the man’s eyes widened and he began nodding quickly when I handed the coin to him. “This will be plenty. Thank you for your generosity, sir.”
I was slightly uncomfortable being treated like this, but I guess it was natural since a ship the size of the Unity would typically be reserved for particularly important individuals. Especially one that could be piloted with only two people. “It’s alright. Is there anywhere that I can find information about this city?”
“Information? Oh yes, if you head towards that building over there, you can get answers to whatever questions you may have.” He pointed to a building at the edge of the docks, and I nodded.
“Thank you. Is there anything else needed before we go?”
“No, no this is quite enough, thank you. Please enjoy your stay on the island.” Having been paid and given his instructions, the harbormaster ran off down the dock. I couldn’t help but shaking my head, thinking that he acted much to subservient to run an area this size.
“That guy freaked me out. Way too polite.” Denise voiced my mental complaint, and I nodded my agreement.
“Yeah, but we got what we needed. Now let’s go find out if this city has what we need, or if we’ll have to travel inland.” I smiled to Denise and walked to the building that the harbormaster had pointed out to us. Indeed, it was an information center, though mostly unused. Likely, few people came here without knowing what they needed to ahead of time.
Inside the information center there was a single counter, with a very bored looking woman sitting behind it. She was a little short, and more on the scrawny side than Denise, while also having a good deal of freckles on her face. When she saw us come in, she asked in a very uninterested voice, “Good evening, how may I help you..?”
“Ah, is there a crafting guild or anywhere like that in this city?” I tried to find some way to put it so that I wouldn’t sound like I was talking about something I knew absolutely nothing about.
“No, sir. There are crafting guilds in Durlin, the capital city. Please make your way there if that is what you are looking for.”
“Thank you, we’ll do that. I take it the roads are safe to travel to get there?”
“Yes, sir. Aside from the unlikely event of a bandit encounter, you have nothing to worry about while traveling the road from here to Durlin. Is there anything else I can help you with today…”
“No.. that’ll be all, thanks…” Now I knew yet another reason why nobody was in that information center. That was not a very good person to hold a conversation with. Turning around, Denise and I went out to the road, walking towards the town’s gates. “Okay, so looks like we’ve got to go to Durlin after all. If we leave now, and make good time, we should arrive tonight.”
Finally, I can get some exercise! You two have been using that wooden abomination for so long I’ve not had the chance to stretch my legs! Midnight was obviously the m
ost enthusiastic about this, happy for the chance to do some running.
“Alright. If we encounter any bandits, though, leave them to me. This area shouldn’t be so difficult.” Denise grinned widely at the thought of a bandit attack, giving me chills.’’
Really, what happened to the nice, carefree Denise? I shook my head, and the two of us climbed up on Midnight, leaving the port city behind us.
Just like around Rosenhiem, the area around the city was an empty grassland. Over the hills, we could see a forest in the distance, which the road we were running traveled through. We probably wouldn’t be able to see the city until we crossed through that forest. I had considered practicing my magic again while we traveled, but there was no way for me to do so while riding atop Midnight. Once we get back to the mainland, I’ll have to see about getting a wagon or something.
I allowed Denise to guide Midnight while I worked on something else. To be honest, I didn’t trust the guards that the harbormaster assigned to the Unity. As such, I called Lilith and asked her if she could have one of her demons keep an eye on the ship. Even just as much as knowing its current location would be good. If it got stolen, I could just teleport myself and Denise to the deck after finding it, and then take it back.
Lilith seemed as happy as ever to be able to help, and told me that she’d have one of her people keep tabs on the ship. After that, I called Kev to let him know that we would be busy for a little while and wouldn’t be able to pick him up for a few weeks.
“What could you be doing that would take weeks? Are you guys taking on another dungeon?”
“No, nothing like that. We’re on our way to Durlin so that I can learn a craft skill.” I calmly replied to his question. Judging from his tone, he didn’t exactly appreciate being left behind while we go off to have fun. If only he knew that he wouldn’t be much help anyways.
“I see.. Maybe I should do the same once I am done training. Being able to repair my own gear and make new swords would be a good skill to have.”
“Good luck. I’ll call you later when I have something to update you with.”
After ending the call, the forest that we had seen before was upon us. Perhaps because of my recent experience with the dragon’s island, I activated my Scan spell with Perfect Vision as soon as we entered the forest. Thanks to that, I had a full view of everything around me, including the ability to see auras or penetrate lower level stealth techniques.
Really… just what do they have in mind.. Some distance ahead, I saw a group of five humans. Two were crouched down, hidden in bushes along the road, while the remaining three were high up in the tree branches wielding bows.
Patting Denise’s shoulder, I whispered what I learned, as well as the fact that they hadn’t looked our way yet. With a grin, she hopped off Midnight and vanished into the trees. Taking the reins, I diligently led Midnight into the ambush, deactivating my spell so that my eyes wouldn’t be glowing suspiciously.
“Stop right there.” A voice came from the bushes beside us, one of the bandits stepping out, a hand on his sword. He was a middle aged man, with a short beard and receding red hair. “Hand over whatever you’re carrying, and this won’t turn all hostile.” He spoke with a grin, confident that he was making some easy money.
“Oh no, bandits… whatever shall I do.” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. “You guys are foreigners, right?”
The bandit’s face started to burn at my disinterested comment. “Yeah, that’s right. So if you know what’s good for you, you’ll give us what we want.” He raised one of his hands, and the other bandit from the bushes, looking to be a woman of the same age, stepped out next to him. Both of them slowly drew their swords, pointing them to us.
“Listen… If you are foreigners, than you should know something. The weak targets will obviously be traveling away from the capital, not towards it. The best you can hope for from someone going in this direction is a merchant, but they’d be pulling a wagon behind them.”
“Shut.. shut up. You think we’re idiots?”
“Yes. Also, I figure by now your three friends are dead idiots.” His face showed alarm as soon as I mentioned the three hidden archers, and suddenly there was a series of screams from above us. “Yup, that will be them.” Reaching into my bag, I casually pulled out one of the green discs I had made while on the ship, gripping it tightly in my hand. “If you want something for your trouble, take this.”
When I tossed the disc at him like some sort of consolation prize, the bandit woman reached out her hand and snatched it from the air. Really… they are a pair of idiots.
As soon as the disc was in her hand, blood exploded from both of the bandits, their bodies instantly torn to shreds by over a thousand leaves that flew down. I wasn’t sure what the strength of the item would be, but it did not disappoint me. Each individual leaf likely didn’t do much damage, but the sheer amount of them that were present in the area proved to be too much.
“Aww… I thought you were going to leave the bandits to me…” Denise jumped down from a high branch, landing on her feet without a problem.
“Sorry, I wanted to test that item. It was one of the things I made on the way here.”
“Well, that’s alright. I still got three of them, anyways. Really, they were only at that level and tried to threaten people?” Denise grinned, jumping back up on Midnight after I moved back a bit.
“Don’t say that. We’re just more powerful than most. Besides, from their arrangement, they likely relied heavily on surprise. Normal people passing through would have been taken out by the arrows, or at least distracted enough that the ones on the ground could handle them.” As I said that, I reactivated my Scan spell. Even if we just made it through a bandit ambush, there was no reason there couldn’t be another one.
“Maybe…”
“So, you don’t want to do something boring like learning how to craft, right?” When Denise shook her head, I smiled. “Okay, while we’re in Durlin, I want you to see if you can find a promising warrior for us. When we were with Levy, I found out that it doesn’t have to be someone at our level, so anyone that is competent will do.”
“Ooh, alright! Anything particular you’re looking for?” Denise suddenly grinned wickedly. “Maybe another woman for your harem?”
“Please… I’m not gathering women on purpose… I’d like it to be someone friendly and loyal. Actually, the weaker they are, the better. That way they will be more likely to go along with keeping our secrets.”
“Aww, okay. I was looking forward to testing them out myself.”
“Sorry. Also, you’ll need to make sure nobody notices that you aren’t exactly normal anymore. It shouldn’t be a problem as long as they don’t look too closely.” Judging by the fact that she didn’t burn up in the sun, Denise definitely wasn’t a vampire. But I still had no idea just what her race was.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. By the way, why didn’t you take any of the gear off of those bandits just now?”
It was a valid question. Most people would grab any piece of loot they could find. “I don’t really need to, do I? We have more money than we could possibly spend, literally. If they had a unique item, they would have been bragging about it. Otherwise, we could either buy or make anything of that level.”
Still watching with my Scan spell, I noticed a cluster of bluish trees in the distance. Ahh, good. So Mana Trees do grow in this area.
“I guess. I probably still would have done it out of spite. Let them learn not to mess with people stronger than them.”
I chuckled a bit. Seems that now Denise was the kind of person to step on someone that rises up against her until they learn their lesson. “Well, you might get a chance when we come back through. Though, we’ll need to get a wagon if we manage to acquire a warrior while we’re here.”
“That’ll slow us down a bit, but you’re right. Wouldn’t it be best to wait and find the third teammate until after you are done with your mission to learn about this world?”
“Alright, I understand. But how would I go about finding them? I mean, it’s not like we want everyone to know that we are recruiting.. Especially since you don’t want a foreigner.”
“Just hang out around the Fighter’s Guild, and see if anyone like what we need shows up. I’ll be looking around as well when I’m not busy at the crafting hall.” I smiled to her, and we saw the end of the forest. During this entire trip, we had not seen a single monster yet. Nothing stronger than a pack of wolves in the forest or angry dogs in the grasslands. Probably, the foreigners killed too many.
Denise smiled once we were out of the forest, and indeed we could see the city of Durlin in the distance, the setting sun lowering just behind us. “Want to camp outside the city for the night, or find an inn?”