Frostbitten Wayfarer

Joe was waiting inside, sat at the bar with a mug of water. He looked over when Zoe came in and smiled.

“Mornin’ Zoe. Ready for a big day?” Joe grinned.

“For me, or you?" Zoe asked.

Joe laughed. “It’s been a long time coming, I guess. I never thought I’d name it, really. It was just the inn, and I was happy with that.” He closed the door behind them as they left and started on his meandering path through the city.

“Back home, everything always had a name. If you walked down the street, almost every building had a name. Even people’s homes had names sometimes if they lived in apartment buildings or condos.” Zoe said.

“The way you talk about your home always makes it seem so extravagantly wealthy, you know? Like everybody just had anything they needed, whenever they wanted it.” Joe said.

“I think a lot of people would disagree with you on that, back home. I think I would have too, when I first showed up. We had a lot of problems. A lot of big problems, too. Catastrophic challenges to overcome. Wars, famine. The world was literally melting.

“When I lived in it, saying that life sucked and everything was crumbling was easy. But looking back on it, I think I took a lot of what I had for granted. I didn’t have much, but I had a home to live in. I had a family, and I wasn’t that close with any of them. But they were there, and they helped me at times too. I think I didn’t appreciate that as much as I could have.

“I had passions and interests, a life that I was living and for the most part? It was a good life. I enjoyed the games we played together, I enjoyed the garden I had in my backyard. I even enjoyed work, to some extent. Helping people fix their problems made me feel good, even if most of the time it was boring tedium with way too much pressure.

“So I dunno. I think that at least from my perspective, you’re not wrong. Maybe somebody else shows up from my world someday who lived somewhere else and makes it look far more bleak. Maybe somebody already has, but the perspective was so different you couldn’t put it together.” Zoe shrugged.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes. “Do you want to go back?” Joe asked as he lead Zoe down a side alley.

Zoe sighed. “It depends, I guess. If you gave me a button and all I had to do was press it to go back home? I don’t think I would.”

“No? You prefer it here now?” Joe asked.

“In some ways. I think that both have their benefits. But for me the main issue really is just how long I’ve been here for. I don’t think that time’s going to have stopped back home while I’ve been here, and it’s been almost thirteen years now. That’s a really long time.” Zoe answered.

“If you could go back in time would you do that then?” Joe asked.

“Maybe? I don’t even think that’s possible anyway so I’ve never really thought about it. Even if it was, would I be the same person I was before? I don’t think I am. I’ve changed a lot since you first met me, Joe.” Zoe said.

Joe laughed. “Yes, you have.”

“Right? Even if I could go back, I don’t know if I’d enjoy the same things anymore. I don’t know if the people I knew would enjoy my company anymore. At least you’ve seen the change over time, you’ve helped me through it. But to everybody back home? If I just changed so much overnight, that would affect things.

“And I’d know what I’m missing, too. Every time I’m talking with Jackson I’d know that I could’ve been hurling magic around, feeling the well of power within me grow with each passing day. I’d know what I’m missing, and I would really miss it I think.

“I miss them. A lot. But I think that for me to go back, I’d need to be able to go back and forth. Some days I could spend back home like I never left. Some days I could spend here, meeting new people, learning new magic and helping you name your inn. But that’s not possible, so I’ve just accepted this as home now. And I like it here. It sucked at first, but I’ve moved on now.” Zoe said.

“I’m glad you’ve accepted it here, at least. Imagine everything that happened to you, but you get sent to some place you absolutely hate.” Joe laughed.

“Oh god. That’s what I thought it was at first. I was out in the forest to the south and I had no idea if there was even civilization here. It was terrifying. And then the first real interaction I had was with John! What a terrible beginning.” Zoe laughed.

“I’ve tried going down there a few times, but he’s always been closed.” Joe said.

Zoe nodded her head. “Yeah, he’s usually closed when I stop by too. He should really get a schedule up or something. I wonder where he even goes while it’s closed.”

Joe shrugged. “He’s powerful, from what you’ve said. Maybe he’s travelling from planet to planet gathering more books.”

“Maybe.” Zoe shrugged.

They arrived at the city hall and walked through the large wooden doors at the front of the pristine white marble building. Inside looked the same as it always had, the beautiful stairs at the back end with a row of counters on either side of the ground floor and a long line stretching out of both.

Joe walked up to the somewhat shorter line on the right side and the pair waited for their turn. They were beckoned over to a counter near the back of the building by an older man with thin gray hair and a wrinkled, tanned face.

“Hello,” the clerk said. “How can I help you?"

Joe summoned an bundle of papers and handed it to him. “Here’s my taxes, should all be there. I’m also interested in naming my inn, if we can do that here?”

The clerk took the papers and thumbed through them all. Zoe felt a subtle magic race through the papers as he did.

“Perfect. Yes, we can register your inn. The cost is one gold coin. Just let me…” The clerk trailed off as he knelt below the counter and rummaged through some heavy sounding objects.

“Ah, here we go!" He pulled up a small blue stone, a sheet of paper and an ornate looking golden quill. ”I just need you to fill out this please. When you’re done, press the paper into the stone and fill it with your mana. It shouldn’t take much.“

Joe nodded his head and read through the paper. It had some simple sections on it that he needed to put his answers into. His name, business’ registration number, the chosen name for his business, and a few other identifying pieces of information.

Zoe was going to look away as he filled out the information, but as soon as the quill touched the paper, it was covered in darkness that she couldn’t see through anyway. Joe didn’t seem affected by it as he continued writing down his information, so Zoe guessed it was a privacy enchantment of some sort on either the paper or the quill.

When he was done, Joe pressed the paper into the stone and Zoe felt mana rush out of him. The paper was sucked into the stone and twisted around to form a ribbon of white that wrapped around it.

“Wonderful,” the clerk said. “All I need from you now is payment, and then I can handle the rest and you’re free to go.”

Joe summoned a gold coin and handed it to the clerk. “Thank you very much for the help.”

The clerk took the coin and it vanished. “Thank you very much. I will get this processed later tonight. Have a lovely day.”

Joe smiled. “You too.”

“Thanks. Have a nice day.” Zoe said to the clerk as they left. “So where to next?" She asked Joe.

“Hmm,” Joe pondered. “How long do you think it will take you to name the inn?”

“Honestly? I have no idea how I’m going to do it at all. I learned a little bit of it when I took the Carpentry lesson, but I’ve never really tried making something so large a single object.” Zoe grinned.

Joe laughed. "Of course you don’t.“

“I’m a good enchanter, I’ve just only worked with small things before. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Zoe said.

“So grab some lunch and then get started on enchanting the inn?” Joe asked.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Zoe smiled.

Joe lead Zoe through town to a restaurant he promised was excellent. A small noodle shop not far from his inn that sold thick noodles in cold soup. It reminded her of a mix between soba and udon. Thick, chewy noodles with a cold flavourful broth.

When they finished eating, they returned to Joe’s inn — The Risen Cask, and Zoe got to work trying to enchant the building. When she was learning Carpentry, they went over a little bit of how to make their creations better for Enchanting.

The inn was quite large. Larger than anything she’d enchanted before, by far. But in theory, it would be the same process of merging everything together with her skill to form it into one object she could enchant. Something the builders likely already did before anyway.

Zoe checked the building’s exterior walls — the interior were hardly important for being identifiable anyway, and found them to all be interconnected with small mana pathways between all the wooden planks and supports that held them up.

To enchant the building with Identify, she would need a few things. The first was enough mana to actually flood the building and enchant it. With all of her new bonuses, she was confident in having enough of that.

The second was a more mana efficient material that would hold the enchantment longer. She still had plenty of Icy Splinters from her delve into the hill she lived in that would work just fine for the purpose. Zoe spent a few hours walking around Joe’s inn with her carpentry tools and Frost skill, embedding threads of the Icy Splinters into almost every plank that made up the exterior wall.

And the final piece she needed was an actual enchantment to put on it. Zoe flooded the building with mana and felt her mana rush through the walls to fill in the cracks and splits in its structure. She felt it weave through the pathways created by the original builders and seep into every wall in their entirety.

A few minutes later when the walls stopped taking any more mana from her, Zoe flashed the enchantment she had already prepared on her Enchanted Mirror. Identify, to make it show up as The Risen Cask to anybody who would Identify it. And both Enchanting and Meditation to keep it stable without Joe needing to constantly fill it with mana.

Joe and Zoe stepped outside of his inn and looked at it from the outside. “It looks the same.” Joe said.

“I was enchanting it, not renovating it. Identify it.” Zoe grinned.

“I know you were. I’m just reminded of the young woman who showed up so long ago and thought she was helping by cleaning the counter when I have a cleaning skill.” Joe grinned back.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You liked having me around.”

Joe nodded. “I did. Most people don’t come back as often as you do, either.”

“Has Rizick ever come around?” Zoe asked.

“Once, a few years ago.” Joe said.

“He doing well?" Zoe asked.

Joe nodded. “Yeah, he and Isla are married now.”

“Oh really? Good for them. She was nice.” Zoe said.

Joe nodded.

“Okay, but seriously. Identify the building!” Zoe laughed, and checked it for herself.

[The Risen Cask]

Joe stood there for a moment staring at the building. “I really never thought I’d name it. I never thought I cared about it. But seeing it there, like that. A name that I thought of, that I care about. A name that means something to me.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s just there now. I own The Risen Cask. That’s me. Joe, owner of The Risen Cask. Thank you, Zoe. This means a lot to me.” He smiled at Zoe.

Zoe smiled back. “No problem, Joe. You’ve done so much more for me I don’t think I could ever repay you if we were keeping track, anyway.” She laughed.

Joe laughed. “I never did.” He opened the door and walked in. “Want to come in for a drink at The Risen Cask?”

Zoe nodded and followed him in then sat at the bar. Joe poured them both drinks — ale for himself and water for Zoe then sat at the bar with her.

“When you showed up here, I didn’t have the faintest clue you’d be changing my life as much as you have, you know? I know you like to thank me for all that I’ve done, but it goes both ways. You’ve taught me so much about myself. About who I am, and what I need in my life.

“People have stayed here before. Sleeping in the kitchen, a spare room, out in the dining area. Wherever I can fit them at the time. But everybody else always had something. They had levels, they had knowledge, they had experience that helped them.

“You had none of that. You didn’t know the laws, you didn’t know the name of the town you’re in. I’m sure there’s so much more that you still don’t know because it’s just common sense and nobody would think to tell you. How long was it until you learned we’re a part of the Injellar kingdom?” Joe asked.

“Uhh. Now?” Zoe smiled sheepishly.

Joe laughed. “See? I got to see you grow into who you are today, and I feel this pride from seeing what you’ve done now. And I like that. I want to be able to do more of that. To help people get back on their feet and watch them succeed in life. You showed me that side of myself.”

Zoe smiled, and the two chatted a while longer before Zoe stood up. “Well, it was nice catching up. But I’ve got a witch to go harass for a bit.”

Joe smiled. “See you around Zoe!”