We hooked up a wagon behind the buggy for Uncle Chris to ride in, when we set off. I’d really have to think of a better name for this thing someday.
As we drove I got lost in the surroundings. The trees were so much taller up close, they felt like wooden cliffs that lined the road. The animals peeked out of the bushes to see what was moving by so fast. Some wolves even tried to chase us down, which caused me to use 6 speed for the first time on the road and almost toss Uncle Chris out the back.
“Slow down you buffoon! Don’t get too excited over your new magic toy!” He remarked grumpily
“My bad!” I laughed back at him. This was truly exhilarating, moving faster than I’ve ever moved before, in a place I’ve never been before, to do something I’ve only dreamt of doing before.
I had always been happy with my life, but I never looked forward to what the next day held so anxiously. I may slay a corrupted bear tomorrow, or find a new weapons shop, or meet a cute mage girl like my father had.
As I dreamt of how the women might swoon over my badass new jacket and newly invented magic buggy, Uncle Chris shouted out some directions to me. We’ve been driving for a couple hours now, it was peaceful in our journey. Uncle Chris and I chatted with slightly raised voices so we could hear each other over the wind, luckily Steven’s genius had also made the buggy totally silent, so other than the wheels on the road and the wind in our ears, it was quiet.
“Getting here would’ve taken a full day on foot, you sure got one amazing friend there, Ray.” Uncle Chris told me. At first he was constantly shouting at me to slow down and that I’d kill him, but as I got better at driving and he got more used to the ride, it became a lot easier for the both of us.
“How much longer till we make it to Halesbrook?” I looked back at Uncle Chris.
“At this speed? We may even make it there by sunset”
Halesbrook is the closest town to Halsry City, which is why we decided to make our first stop there. Apparently, there are also reports of light corruption a couple hours’ journey away from the town, so it makes a perfect starting place for our journey.
After another hour or so, we’ve long since left the forest and have come to a massive open plane, with a clear view to the town in the distance, though it’d likely be a few more minutes before we arrived.
The journey had been filled with me and Uncle Chris just messing around, he even tried to use the buggy, but he could only use it for around an hour without getting totally drained, and it didn't go too fast either. So we decided I’d be the driver other than in emergencies, even at the slower speed that Uncle Chris drives at, it's way faster than walking.
Once we finally arrive in the town, eyes are drawn our way as they wonder what the thing we rode in was. It really was a crazy invention. Had we been in my home city, people would take one look, deduce that the buggy is another one of Steven’s inventions, and move on with their lives. It wasn't rare to see someone with some seemingly impossible contraption designed by Steven on the Halsry roads.
We found a place to stay that has a stable, where Uncle Chris decided was likely the best place to store the buggy until further notice. We pay the fee for parking it there, and also for staying at the home. It seemed to just be a relatively large house the owners were renting out the rooms for. Our room had two small beds, a closet, and a desk, rather bare bones, but it’d work for now.
Apparently, this town wasn’t very popular with Divers since the Deep rarely rose around here, and when there was any corruption it was very weak, as if to affirm this, the compass Steven designed glows ever so faintly, while slowly moving to point where I assume the corruption is. Unsurprisingly, when I checked with Uncle Chris, it matched the direction of the reported corruption.
We headed into the town to browse the wares, but seeing as it's a relatively small town there’s nothing very impressive. Instead we decided to head to the local tavern, Uncle Chris told me these were really common outside of Halsry. While yelling how much he missed alcohol, he kept ordering more drinks.
I didn’t really understand it. I took an eager sip since Uncle Chris acted so excited over it, but it was bitter and had a strong smell to it. Frankly it was just gross. I promptly spit it out and asked the bartender what other drinks they had. To my pleasant surprise, they had Gakra juice.
If there was anything that brought me pleasure in this world, it was fruits, especially Gakra. The elusive melon had evaded my mouth since I had it once as a child, and I rarely was lucky enough to find it in Halsry since. I downed as much Gakra juice as Uncle Chris did alcohol, and upon seeing our tab at the end of our spree, we were both shocked.
Uncle Chris tried to fight the bartender in a drunken rage, but I held him back and paid our bill. Uncle Chris was much easier to handle when he was drop dead drunk, which I was thankful for, if he was in top shape even I couldn't protect the poor bartender. 1 and a half gold coins for just some drinks was a little ridiculous, but we did drink a lot.
I brought Uncle Chris back to our room and left him there passed out on one of the beds before heading back into the town myself. I wandered around with my hands in my pocket. I left my greatsword back in the room, but I kept the knife Uncle Chris gave to me just in case, and wore my dad’s cloak, more because it was cool than because it protected me.
It was getting dark, the sun had already set and the only light was that of the moon and stars. As I’m walking around I pass a shop with a particular commotion going on inside. I peek in and there’s a brown haired young man. He’s slender, yet well built, and he turns around, locking eyes with me. Yikes, he’s so handsome it almost makes me angry.
“You there! The big man with the weird cloak!”
Excuse me? Weird cloak? I already didn’t like this guy
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
“This crazy kid came in and started yelling at me about my prices!” Said the frightened clerk being held at the scruff of his neck by the stupid and loud handsome man.
“I’m not crazy! What’s crazy are these prices! An entire gold coin for a rope? I wouldn't pay over 5 silver for this product” He’s so loud, stop yelling I’m right next to you.
Despite how annoying this guy is, he’s right, a gold coin for some rope was pretty pricey.
“While that’s true, how about you put the clerk down?” I suggest.
He seems to only just now realise how much he’s overreacting, and puts the clerk down. After checking if the clerk was alright, I left the store and continued my night walk.
As I walked, I realised the annoying dude from before was following me, so I stopped and quickly turned around.
“And? Why are you following me?” I asked, annoyed.
“My name is Mathew Stannal! Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He bowed at me and stuck out his hand for a handshake.
Yuck, leave me alone weirdo.
“Right, well I’m going to go now.” I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my shoulder, and it freaking hurts. Just how strong was this guy?
“Won’t you introduce yourself to me? I am a Diver, and I can tell you are strong!”
A Diver huh? Seems like the bar for being a Diver was far lower than I thought, if this dunce was a Diver, I didn't need all that training with Uncle Chris.
“Ray.” I told him
“Pardon me?”
“My name is Ray.”
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