Frostbitten Wayfarer

Zoe went to Joe’s tavern, filling her mana orb whenever her mana was full. The tables were filled with people talking about their plans for the day. A hearty, meaty smell wafted from the kitchen where one of Joe’s stews must have been bubbling away.

She knocked on the kitchen door, and peered inside. “Morning Joe!”

“Oh, hey Zoe.” Joe called back, sweat dripped from his brow as he slaved over the stove preparing the lunch menu.

“Is there a post office around here? Courier, maybe? Mail delivery, that kinda thing?” Zoe asked.

“Yeah, the city hall handles all of the mail. Just go up the stairs at the back.” He said.

“Alright, thanks Joe. Ash and Lila might end up leaving you a message by the way. I kinda forgot to ask them for an escort while they were clearing snow out in town. Oh, would you know of somewhere I could learn how to use my dagger by the way?" She asked.

Joe chuckled, “That’s fine Zoe, and unless it’s for cutting up food, I’d have no idea.”

“Oh well, thanks anyway. See you around Joe!" She called out.

“Yeah no problem,” He said, looking over at her and smiling. “Good luck!”

Zoe smiled and left, dropping a silver coin on one of the shelves behind the bars as she did. It was the least she could do for all he’s done for her. One day she hoped she could come back and do something more significant, but she was happy to at least have a reliable source of income now.

She grabbed her mana orb and dumped another three hundred mana into it.

[Mana Orb - 1743]

It wasn’t filling anywhere near as fast as if she were sitting down and meditating, putting all she had into it. But it was good enough. That was already enough food for a few days if she sold it, let alone the rest of what she’d manage through the day.

She continued charging the orb as she walked to the city hall. For the first bit she tried to meditate as she walked, but found it much too hard for her at the moment. Maybe someday, but for now she felt as though she’d walk right into a wall before she noticed it.

The city hall was full of people, as Zoe found to be normal. Lines on either side with several workers beckoning people over to their counters to help them. Today though, Zoe got to go up the large staircase at the back of the building.

There was a landing part way up, and then it split off to the right and the left. Zoe decided on the left staircase.

At the top was nothing resembling a post office. It was a large room that stretched the whole length of the left half of the building. Massive tables with dozens of chairs around each were set up at even spacing throughout the room.

Most of the tables were unpopulated, but one of the spaces where a table should be was replaced with a shimmering purple barrier that blocked her sight.

She walked up to one of the tables and looked at it a little closer. They were made of a dark wood with gold engravings along the side. Each chair made of a similar looking wood, also with gold engravings. At one end of the table were several buttons with markings labelling them. Zoe couldn’t tell what they did, and decided not to play with them yet.

She turned around and went up the other side of the staircase, finding herself in something much more like what she expected.

This room also stretched the entire length of the building, but it was divided by a counter that reached across the whole room. To the back of the room were dozens of racks, filled with boxes and envelopes. Workers walked around the room, taking packages from one area and moving them to another.

Two of the workers were sitting behind the counter, and Zoe approached them.

“Hello,” She said. “I want to send some mail?”

“Hi! That’s what we do here!” The male worker said, his brown hair flapping out of his face as his head snapped up when Zoe spoke.

“Yeah, how do I do it though?" Zoe asked.

“Oh I see. You just give us an envelope or package with an address written on it and we’ll make sure it gets delivered! Any destinations within town are free, while destinations out of town will cost additional depending on the distance.” He said, smiling.

“Right, so I want to send a letter, and I don’t know their address. I know where they live, is that okay?” She asked.

“Without a proper address we can’t guarantee that the package will be delivered accurately, but we will try our best to find your description. If it’s difficult, you may be charged an additional fee.” He said.

“Okay, do you have paper and a pen or quill or something that I can write with?” Zoe asked.

“Sure do!" He said as he grabbed a rough brown piece of paper and a thin golden feather, then handed them to Zoe.

“Okay, is this free?” She asked.

“Yup! If you need an envelope after though, we do charge for those. Five for two copper coins, or one for one copper coin.” He smiled.

“Right, okay. Can I just write the letter here or should I go over to the other side and find a table?” Zoe asked.

“You can just write here, sure. There’s no lineup right now anyway.” He shrugged.

Zoe put the paper down on the counter and scribbled on it with the golden quill. It left black, inky lines wherever she did. It felt almost like writing with a very wet ballpoint pen, but didn’t slide as well on the paper. Whether that was the quill’s fault or the paper’s fault, she wasn’t sure.

Hey Ash and Lila, it’s Zoe. I spoke with you two about some resistance training over the summer and I’m very excited for that still! But I spoke with a friend, and he says that it’s probably not safe for me to go wandering around down the road looking for a farm when I’m still stuck at level eight.

And honestly I agree, I would really like to not risk my life more than necessary if at all possible. If it’s not too much to ask, I would greatly appreciate if we could make plans for you two to come and escort me to your farm when your friends are back. If it is too much, then I’m not sure I’m comfortable with making the journey alone currently and I’m not able to afford to pay for guards either.

Either way, thank you very much for the offer. The closest thing I have to a home right now is a tavern on Kline run by a man named Joe. If you could leave a message there for me that would be greatly appreciate.

Thanks, Zoe.

She gave her letter a once over for spelling errors, and clicked her tongue when she got to the end. It was good enough, they wouldn’t deny her an escort because she couldn’t spell ‘appreciated’. Probably.

Zoe asked the worker for an envelope, paying the one copper coin. It was a worse deal but she didn’t need five envelopes and they were cheap anyway. She stuffed her letter into it and then put it back down on the counter.

“Do I write the directions on the back or how does this work?” She asked.

“You can just tell me the directions and I’ll make sure it’s all handled.” He said and grabbed the envelope.

“It’s for a couple named Ash and Lila who run a farm east of town. It’s just on the road and not far away, can’t miss it, apparently.” Zoe explained.

“Ah, them. Sure thing. Delivery to their farm runs twenty copper, or three silver for immediate delivery.” He said.

Zoe pulled out a silver coin, handing it to the man. “I don’t need a rushed delivery. Do you have change?”

He summoned a handful of copper coins and handed them to Zoe. “Eighty copper back, thank you very much. We’ll make sure that letter gets to Ash and Lila by tomorrow.”

“Thanks! Have a nice day.” She said, turning to leave.

“You as well!” He called out from behind her.

Next up on Zoe’s agenda was trying to find somebody who could teach her how to use her dagger. She pulled out her mana orb to check the progress on it.

[Mana Orb - 4923]

She made her way to one of the lines and waited until it was her turn to be called up to the counters. Might as well check if there was just a dagger school nearby run by the government or something, she thought.

“Hello, how can I help you today?" The person behind the counter asked her when she approached.

“Hi I’m just wondering if there’s a school here? Like a college or something. Or maybe a library, even? I want to get a bunch of skills and just wondering what resources I have for that.” Zoe asked.

“Hmm, there is a library nearby. Do you know where Kaira park is?” The person asked.

“Yes I do.” Zoe replied.

“Those big tree buildings that surround the park are all libraries. Or well, one library with many buildings. As for a school, what are you specifically looking for?" They asked.

“Well anything that I could get a skill from, really. But ideally I want to learn how to use my dagger to defend myself if possible.” Zoe answered.

“There is the school of hunting interesting targets just near the western gate that lots of people seem to recommend.” They said.

Zoe narrowed her eyes when she heard the name.

The worker sighed, “Yes I know. I hear they’re competent though, despite the name.”

“Alright, so Kaira park and the western gate then. Awesome. Thanks.” Zoe said.

“No problem, was there anything else you needed to know today?” They asked.

“Nope, that’s all. Have a nice day now!” Zoe said.

“You as well!" They said and then waved the next person down.

Zoe left. Kaira park was right nearby, the large trees that surrounded it visible from outside the city hall. It would make the most sense for her to go there first and then check out the school tomorrow.

But on the other hand, the library was a library. She might learn how to get skills from it, but unless there was a reading skill it wasn’t going to help beyond that.

The school however, was for teaching her things. Maybe she couldn’t get a lesson today, but it was possible. Or maybe she could sign up for lessons sometime soon if it was too busy.

With her plan decided, she made her way to the western gate of town. The school wasn’t hard to find, being right next to the gate and stretching along the inside of the wall for quite a ways. A large sign hung from above the door with a picture of a bow and knife in the rough shape of an x.

She identified the building, just to make sure she was in the right place.

[School of Hunting Interesting Targets]

Zoe rolled her eyes and opened the front door. To her immediate right was a counter that had a woman in full leather armour and a quiver hanging from her waist standing behind it.

[Warrior - ??]

“Hi there, I heard you teach people how to use a dagger?” Zoe asked the woman.

“Yes we teach many things here, I would recommend our complete package personally.” She said.

“What’s the complete package?” Zoe asked.

“Well we have many different lesson plans available, and the complete package wraps up all of these into one lower payment. It’s five days per week for two months and by the end of it you will be a master at all things hunting.” She smiled.

“Okay, what specific skills do you actually teach though? I’m mostly just wanting to accumulate skills, really.” Zoe asked.

“Yes, well, we can’t guarantee that you will get any skills from our lessons, I’m afraid.” She said.

“I’m not looking for a guarantee, just what kinds of skills could I get from doing the lessons? Even if I have to continue practising things after, that’s fine.” Zoe asked, feeling a little frustrated but trying not to take it out on the friendly woman.

“Right, well again we can’t guarantee you will actually get any skills from our lessons. But we cover tracking, dagger-fighting, stealth, archery, and gathering, mainly. We have a few brief lessons that might qualify for cooking as well, though that’s far from a big focus for us here.” She explained.

“And is this all safe?” Zoe asked.

“We are proud to say that we’ve never had a serious incident before, but safety is never guaranteed. We will need to have you sign a waiver if you decide to take any lessons outside the walls, but nobody’s ever been hurt before. Our trainers are all dark red at least and more than capable of handling the wildlife around Flester.

“On top of that, all areas that you will be going to are checked ahead of time for anything unexpected and the lesson will be rescheduled if the trainers feel like something is awry. Safety is our utmost priority and we do everything we can to make sure you have a safe environment to learn in, but we can’t guarantee a roaming drake won’t decide to drop in for the first time in history.” She explained, feeling a little anxious.

“Okay, that makes sense. How much does the complete package cost, then?” Zoe asked.

It seemed perfect for her. She would get some real hunting experience, learn more about the wildlife around Flester, get progress on several new skills and even some professional training to help her archery out. She couldn’t ask for a better solution right now.

“The complete package is two gold coins. As I explained before this includes every lesson plan we offer spread out over two months. But you are also given five free one-on-one, personalized one hour training sessions with one of our many trainers here at School of Hunting Interesting Targets, along with unlimited access to our training facilities for the full two months.” She explained.

Zoe checked her bag and saw she had just under nineteen silver left. She wasn’t sure when the fiscal year started here, but two gold would eat into almost half of her allowed income for the year. On top of whatever gear she might need to buy while she was doing it.

“Do you provide the equipment and supplies needed?” Zoe asked.

“Yes, everything is provided for you. All you need to do is show up and be ready to learn.” The woman smiled.

“Okay. I don’t have two gold right now, but I think I’ll definitely be back when I can afford that then, thanks.” Zoe smiled, preparing to leave.

“We do payment plans, as well.” The woman smiled.