Chương 48: Though Choice

Alexandra stared at her journal, her eyes glazing over the descriptions of the class perks. She wanted to dive right in her selection, but she was at the end of the rope. Her body was barely listening to her. Lost at the frontier between the Balerian plains and the steppes in the middle of the night, it wasn't the right time to make an important decision. She tried standing up, but her legs refused.

"Guess I'm sleeping here." She dragged her body to the closest lump of grass, and rolled herself up as tight as possible. It was cold. When she woke up, the sun had already risen past the horizon. Her journal lay open next to her. Her back ached, and so did her legs. She groaned, and forced herself up.

"At least my legs are working." She winced, feeling the pain as she stood.

"No running today." With the light of the day illuminating her surroundings, the difference between the plains and the steppes became clearer. Yet, it wasn't much. One side had flowers and tall grass, the other only sparse grass clumps. Both were flat. To avoid bending down, she dispelled her journal and summoned it again in her hands. Daily Reset: 06: 00 | Streak: 15 Days Daily Quests: Take a bath (0/1). She blinked. No, she hadn't misread. Then, she lowered her head toward her armpits. She didn't smell that bad.

She'd bathed just yesterday when crossing the river. And before that… Well, she was quite certain that she bathed in Esmera at some point. With a shrug, she turned the pages to that of her perk selection. After sleeping on it, her first instinct was to go for One More. One More – Unlock a second daily quest per day. Rewards are doubled, but both quests need to be completed for the streak to be valid. Doubling her amount of dailies and the associated rewards would make it much faster for her to become stronger.

Not quite twice as fast, as she would still have to work on her skills, but almost. She licked her lips. Just thinking about it made her salivate. Or, perhaps, she was simply hungry. She hadn't eaten in a while. Yet, there was a problem with the perk. A massive one at that. One More put her streak in danger. She hadn't forgotten how close of a call yesterday's quest had been. Would she have time to complete two quests in a day? Most of them, yes. But it increased the chances of an unfortunate daily combination.

It was simple maths, basic probabilities, and while Alexandra didn't claim competency over those topics, it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"So why is it so tempting?" she whispered. Using her fingers to count, she ran some more calculations.

"So, my streak is giving me a 1% increase to all stats. Doubling my stat point gain would be the equivalent of… Erm… There are five attributes, so… 20%?" She scratched her chin.

"If I think only in terms of attributes, keeping the streak seems more valuable. I think my title can go over 20%. Maybe. But there are the skills to consider. And the experience. Argh! My precious streak." She grabbed her hair. Alexandra took a deep breath, and shelved One More for now. Maybe considering the other two options would help her. Paper Map – Turns a section of your journal into a collection of maps. Places you visit are automatically drawn onto the maps. This one was neat.

Alexandra liked the idea of adding a new functionality to her journal. Event Quests, for all its differences, could be categorized as such, and she didn't regret her first pick. Furthermore, having a GPS system would help her complete her dailies. The only downside was that she'd need to visit the places she wanted on her map first. Now that she thought about it, it was actually quite significant. Not to the point of making the perk useless, but a map limited to places one already knew wasn't that convenient.

Still, knowing the perk could evolve to bronze, she believed there was some potential in there. As for the final perk. Adventuring Party – Share your quests with up to two other people. Daily and skill quests excluded. Party members must be of the same rank, or have a maximum difference of 15 levels. That was a lot of words to explain that she could share her Event Quests. That was quite limited. At least in the perk's Iron form. If dailies were included… Well, that would open up a lot of possibilities.

She could already imagine taking it in conjunction with One More. Each member of the party could be assigned a daily quest, and complete it on their own. That would be useful. If she had people to invite to her party. Maybe Louis would. He claimed he was close to Gold rank. She counted on her fingers. Gold rank should be five Silver perks plus one, so level 17. Louis was at best level 16. So he fell within the allowed range.

"Who else?" Lara? Bamir? She sighed. It seemed unlikely that they would agree. As for her old guildmates, they had to be way past the 15 level threshold. Their attitude toward her notwithstanding. Maybe the perk would evolve in the direction she wanted in the future. Maybe. Then again, it was gambling an entire perk on something she had little control over. If she was wrong, Adventuring Party would be completely useless to her. So it was One More.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She bit her lips. It didn't feel right. The risk to her streak was too much. When she thought about the perk's future evolutions, it was even worse. What if it became three daily quests a day? Four? She looked up. The steppes were empty. The plains too. Would she be here if she hadn't failed to complete her dailies in Lone World Online. Probably not. Then it meant she had to take Paper Map.

But as she was about to confirm her choice, she felt a strong reluctance.

"No, this isn't right." Paper Map fell right into the category of perks that could maybe be useful someday. This too, was gambling. With Adventuring Party, at least, her party members would benefit. Louis had helped her a lot, so she didn't mind helping him back. She chuckled.

"I'm an idiot." She had yet to complete a single Event Quest. For both of them, she very much needed the help of her newest friend. For now, their goals aligned, but an extra incentive wouldn't hurt. Adventuring Party was an opportunity for her. A way to ensure she brought value to the people around her. The Yshant quest promised a rare skill for reward. Nobody would say no to that. Just because it wouldn't directly impact her skills and attributes didn't mean the perk wasn't a good investment.

She was tempted to wait. Walk a little to jog her mind. But she forced herself not to. Adventuring Party it was. When she confirmed her selection, knowledge about the perk filled her head. One thing that hadn't been mentioned in the description, but made sense regardless, was that prospective party members needed to be physically present to join her group. In fact, on the sixth page of her journal, a new entry had appeared. Adventuring Party Members (1/3): Alexandra Ward She closed her journal and sent it away.

Back to the task at hand. She had to… well… bathe. She shook her legs, trying to ease their soreness. She hadn't seen much water since the river from yesterday, which was more than a hundred kilometers away. She wasn't sure how much more, but since she earned two levels to Running after unlocking the skill, she had to assume it was quite a lot. With the state of her body, this was going to be difficult. Granted, she'd crossed a few small streams on this side of the river. But none were deep enough to bathe in.

She started walking south. Maybe she could dig a hole near one of those streams. But digging deep enough to bathe wasn't going to be easy. Not without tools. She looked down at her waist. She had her sickle and the axe they'd bought a few days ago. Not ideal for digging. The sparse steppe grass slowly gave way to a few flowers as she reentered the plains. Alexandra snapped her fingers.

"The village." She spotted it yesterday. It was a lot closer to her than the river. Finding it wasn't going to be easy, but it felt like her best bet. Still, that village had to be at least a few dozen kilometers away. She shrugged. Better walk than dig a hole. She wouldn't say no to an actual meal and a bed, too. So she walked. For hours and hours. Even as she started doubting she was going in the right direction. Even as her feet hurt, and even Sure Footing wasn't enough to stop her from stumbling.

Eventually, she spotted it. The smokeless chimneys carved the horizon on the late afternoon sky. Alexandra made sure she was wearing her gloves to hide her missing finger. She straightened her hair and clothes as much as she could. For a moment, she debated pulling up her hood, but decided against it. She couldn't quite hide her white hair. As far as impressions went, a hooded stranger was worse. The village looked a lot like Lanterne. The same stone houses, the same thatched roofs, the same Aetherveil fields.

She was stopped at the outskirts by a middle-aged man. He was dressed like Therion: dark wool jacket, patched pants.

"Hey," she called.

"I'm hunting verdant beasts in the plains. Any chance I could spend the night here?" She gestured at herself.

"I need a bath. And a meal." The man hesitated.

"I can pay." He grunted.

"The chief just left. I don't know…"

"Do you have a priest of Fanon? I believe they could vouch for me."

"A Hand?" He turned around.

"Jimmy! Go get grandma Apple for me." A teenager stood up from the fields and nodded at him as he ran into the village. Alexandra raised her eyebrows.

"Grandma?"

"What? She's my mother."

"I didn't know a priestess could have children."

"Where'd you crawl out of? Why couldn't they?" Alexandra opened her mouth.

"Ah. Erm, yes. Sorry." An old woman walked down the road toward them, short and wide, moving with unhurried confidence. Her robes were undyed wool, plain and simple. Like Bamir's. She stopped in front of Alexandra and looked her over.

"She says she's hunting verdant beasts," the man said. Apple's eyes settled on Alexandra's face.

"I wasn't expecting you this far from Esmera." She reached up and pressed two fingers to Alexandra's jaw, tilting her head sideways.

"You're pushing your body too hard."

"I'm aware." A light glow shone from the priestess' fingers, and Alexandra instantly felt relief. She dropped her hand and turned to the man.

"She's fine, Durel." The bathhouse was a low stone building at the back of the village, fed by a wood-fired boiler that hissed as it worked. Alexandra lowered herself into the tub and stayed very still for a long moment, eyes closed, water up to her chin.

"I should do this more often." She extended a hand out of the water and checked her journal. Take a bath (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +10 exp, +1 CON, Skill Quest Unlocked: Basic Hygiene. Daily Quest Streak: 15 -> 16"Fuck you too, stupid journal." Apple brought the food herself. Bread, hard cheese, a bowl of soup that reminded her of Lara's. It wasn't as fresh, but held a light gamey taste that she appreciated.

Alexandra ate at a small table outside the bath, still warm from the water, her damp hair loose over her shoulders. Apple sat across from her, hands folded.

"How's Bamir?" she asked.

"You know him?"

"We're colleagues, dear."

"Well," Alexandra started.

"He's good. I think." Apple watched her eat.

"He'll get a nice reward for reporting you to the Saint. I'm not sure how much he wants it, however."

"I…" Alexandra considered how much to say.

"I don't hold it against him. Had I known about Hakim, I think I would have wanted to contact him myself." The old woman's expression didn't change, but something behind her eyes sharpened.

"To speak the Saint's name so casually." She smiled.

"I wouldn't have imagined meeting a hero." Alexandra rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so dismissive," Apple said.

"They are not who you remember them to be. To us, only the Seven themselves stand above them. We're not so foolish to revere those people blindly." Alexandra ate. The stew was better than it looked. Outside, the light had gone amber through the small window, the late sun stretched long across the fields. She felt her shoulders drop from fatigue.

"I'm tired, Apple. Thank you for the meal." The priestess' smile widened.

"You're welcome."

"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked.

"We have a room."

"Good." She sopped the last of the stew with the heel of the bread. The old woman laughed, short and genuine. She stood, collecting the empty bowl.

"I'll show you to—" The bell rang. Three hard strikes, then three more, the pattern broken, urgent, wrong. Apple stopped moving. Alexandra was already standing, her hand at her waist, fingers finding her sickle. Through the small window the amber light had changed. At the edge of the fields, where the grass met the plains, shapes moved. Vines, thorns, flowers and leaves. Apple set down the bowl. Her voice was steady.

"How many can you handle?" Alexandra watched the shapes at the field's edge multiply.

"I'm about to find out."