Chương 23: Napalm

After some time spent calming down from his infuriating encounter with the mushroom, who somehow managed to be both tight-lipped and annoyingly talkative, Elias decided he would head back over to the healer's guild and take Goggs up on his offer to help him out with his armor situation. Or his lack thereof. With all of this world's sharp claws and fearsome jaws, some protection was warranted. And anyway, he had a particular mission in mind for which he would need to be well protected.

He followed the path as best as memory served, as it led out of the park and away from the quest hub. At the edge of the park, right near where the new granary was, Elias came across a robed figure that appeared to be in need of some help. The fellow had a long, gray beard and one of those hats that narrows to a fine point at the tip. He seemed long-limbed and was sitting on the ground gently weeping to himself as the other folk of the town coldly walked by about their business.

It seemed like some sort of farmer's market was about to spring up here in this area, and one of the merchants kicked at the fellow, trying to encourage him to move. Elias had a lot to do, and was feeling fairly fed up with the constant interruptions. But something about this lanky fellow's plight struck a chord with him. Maybe the guy was new and feeling overwhelmed and lost in this new world.

It hadn't been that long ago that Elias himself had been in a similar situation, until Goggs and others had helped him get his feet under him. He needed to pay it forward, if only for karma's sake.

"What's the trouble?" Elias asked the man. The man looked up at him through thick glasses, his eyes so green they were almost yellow, a single bushy eyebrow raised.

"I'm not really sure," said the man.

"One moment I was … well I was somewhere, standing in a green field with the wind in my hair, and the next I was talking to a stone soldier. And then, in this … godforsaken jungle." Just then, as if to drive home the point about this place being godforsaken, the blightmaw let loose with one of its grotesque roars. Getting closer now, Elias noted.

"What in the devil is that thing?" the fellow wondered, as if only to himself. Elias could sense the grave fear in his voice.

"You know, I would explain but … it is too much information to drop on you all at once. Suffice it to say that it's probably bad." Oh no, Elias thought to himself, I'm beginning to sound like that damn mushroom. But he brushed the thought away just as quickly as it had arisen.

"You must be fairly new, then? Welcome to the afterlife, I suppose," said Elias, extending a friendly hand to lift the man up off the ground.

"Sorry there isn't more fanfare. Pearly gates and golden shores and all that. Best we can do is a damp, beast-filled jungle." The man mumbled, clearly disconcerted.

"So, your guide was a stone soldier then? Seems more appropriate than mine—giant mushroom, by the by."

"Well … I wouldn't have called it a guide … but it was … a stone soldier alright. Terrifying, honestly. It spoke to me and I thought … maybe I'm having a bad trip or something. But it told me I was dead and, well, in my heart I knew it to be true." Elias let a moment of commiseration pass between them. As he recalled, the shock of it all did last for a little while.

"The good news is, this world has a way of setting you on a course. By then, you'll forget all about it. What is your name by the way?"

"I'm umm …" the man seemed to paw at his long green robe, as if his name might be written on a loose scrap of paper to be found in one of his pockets.

"Here, try this," Elias said, exhibiting the palm opening gesture that was almost second nature to him now. Those green-yellow eyes seemed to spin as the man was no doubt flooded with textual information. Maybe he was even hearing the disembodied voice of this universe for the first time. Elias gave him a minute.

"I am … a wizard. My name is Napalm. Apparently, I can …" As he said it, Napalm's fingers began to dance with red pearls of magic. And those fingers were pointed right at Elias. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Point it that way!" Elias said, quickly dodging out of the way and pulling Merlyn back by the scruff of his neck. The wizard turned abruptly, sending a bolt of bright red flame through the air. Thankfully, it crashed harmlessly into one of the trees. Mostly harmless, anyway. It left a ring of fire burning there in the bark that Elias quickly put out by throwing a bit of dirt at it.

"You got to be careful with that one. Don't want to start off your new life by setting the whole town on fire. That wouldn't make you terribly popular, I'm afraid."

"Well … thank you for your help," said the wizard. He was still looking at his own hands as if amazed by his new abilities.

"What is your crafting class, by the way?"

"Hmm … let's see. It says I'm a glass blower. Funny that." A feeling of envy settled on Elias. He was almost out of flasks, after running through dozens of them that he'd pilfered from the old alchemy guild. Here was a person who could apparently work with glass. Perhaps this wizard could also create new flasks for him? Elias didn't want to overwhelm the poor chap even more with questions like that. But at the same time, he figured the wizard might be useful to have as an ally.

At least in the future once he'd leveled up a bit and become more powerful.

"Say, I am on my way to the Healer's Guild. There is a man there named Goggs who helped me out with some simple quests and stuff when I was getting started out." The man rubbed his white beard, perhaps trying to decide if Elias was truly worthy of his full trust.

"Would you like to join me?" Elias asked. The wizard looked at the ground for a few seconds. His beard almost seemed to grow as his brow furrowed and his greenish eyes narrowed in thought.

"Alright then, I believe I will. Thank you very much," he said.

"Elias," by the way.

"Oh," said the wizard, as if the name were somehow unfortunate. Together, they made their way. The thought occurred to Elias that he might ask this newcomer exactly how he died, but perhaps it was too early to relive the trauma. So instead, the pair arrived at the Healer's Guild with only light conversation.

"That's a fine beast you have by your side," the wizard finally said, watching Merlyn approach from the rear.

"Is he friendly to strangers?"

"Go ahead, give him a pat on the head." Napalm bent low, scratching Merlyn behind the ears and causing the wolf to thump his back leg uncontrollably. They seemed to make fast friends almost instantly.

"It looks like a church," said the wizard, looking up at the guild, once they had finally arrived. Just then, Goggs appeared at the door and waved them inside. It looked like the healer had been spending quite a bit of time sorting through the artifacts, gold, equipment and other valuables of the guild. There were different stacks here and there, and the man was hastily moving things from one to the other as he welcomed them in.

There were chalk tally marks written on the stone walls, and a stack of used bowls in one corner.

"Taking inventory for the blightmaw?" Elias asked. Goggs nodded hastily.

"Just … deciding what to surrender. It is never an easy decision." He stooped to pick up what appeared to be a golden goblet, inlaid with precious looking stones and big enough to have an entire bottle of wine poured into it.

"You know, I defeated a Dread Ursa for this one. Teeth longer than your arm."

"Alone?"

"Don't be crazy. Of course I had help. In those days, there were more of us." Elias had a few things he wanted to ask. He even had some opinions on the matter of the blightmaw, but decided to leave these things unsaid for the moment.

"Speaking of having help, this is Napalm the wizard," Elias said, with a jerk of his chin.

"He is pretty green. Maybe he can help you sort out any more rat trouble in the basement?"

"Understood," said Goggs, sticking out his hand to greet the man.

"Hail, Napalm the Wizard." They shook.

"What is this place?" the wizard mumbled. He wandered out among the piles of equipment, inspecting them with interest. Merlyn trailed just behind him, sniffing at the dinnerware.

"Healer's Guild," said Goggs.

"Or what is left of it."

"No I mean …" the wizard trailed off, gesturing broadly at everything.

"Just ease into it," Elias said.

"Maybe you are right."

"Goggs, I came by to see if maybe I could take you up on that armor quest you mentioned back in the park," Elias said.

"Right," replied the healer. He walked over to one of the piles and pulled out a devilish looking sword. The fine edge of it glinted in the pink sunlight that refracted through the chapel's grand windows.

"There was a metal worker who decided to leave town about a year ago. His plan was to take up residence in the mountains to the south. Try to make a go of honing his craft away from the … distractions of civilization, or what passes for it. I think he mostly wanted to get away from the Fireknights. For a while, he would come in to the market once a week or so to trade. That's where I got this blade here. But … no one has seen him now in three weeks. Folks are growing concerned."

You have been offered a quest: Find out what happened to the metal smith in the mountains to the south. Accept? #"Accept. I have one stop to make and then I'll head that way."

"No, you see, this time I'm going with you," said Goggs.

"This is something you are going to need help to pull off. And whether he is there or not, we are going to get you some armor. You can't walk around being this squishy if you want to last." Elias was relieved. He'd had the same thought himself more than once. But other skills and abilities had outweighed the defensive ones so far.

"I'm coming with you, too," said the wizard, turning both of their heads. Elias was ready to reject the idea outright.

"It is worse out there than you might think," he said.

"You need at least a few levels first. Besides time to mentally process all of this." The wizard took a few steps forward. He seemed to stand at his full height for the first time, so that he towered over both druid and healer.

"One good turn deserves another. You helped me and I'd like to return the favor," Napalm said.

"I've always believed in doing what's right." A strange sense of calm washed over Elias.

"Nobly said. Well … I guess I can't argue with that. Are you ready to leave now, then?" Merlyn barked. He certainly seemed tired of all this talking.