1.29 ”Stocking” Up

I hadn't taken my weapon or armor with me. Velariah had. In fact, she had been wearing it the entire time. I just couldn't believe how much she valued it. We were not planning on doing anything that would put us in any kind of danger, hell, this was a day of rest and relaxation.  

Come to think of it, I'd never seen her step outside without it. I wondered if something happened that caused certain paranoia, or whether it simply was to keep up appearances. I didn't know. 

I was far too distracted to even care. On multiple occasions did people bump into me on the short trip to the guild hall. This couldn't be a good thing if we were heading out tomorrow... I would have to be focused and this elf certainly wasn't doing my focus any good.  

Maybe I was overthinking the whole situation. I couldn't help it. That was who I was after all. Sometimes it would do me good, such as when I prepared for our fight with the Saibon boar earlier and the Bunbear showed up. But sometimes, now was one of those times, I really couldn't focus. 

We reached the guild hall and I hoped that talking to our companions would distract me from what Velariah had told me. 

The hall was mostly empty, just like the quest board. It would seem lunch had finished a while ago and all the quests have been taken as a result. We found Seralyn and Draco sitting in our usual corner, which put a slight smile on my face. 

This was starting to feel like one of those TV shows where the main cast would somehow, someway always get the same seats in a bar or café.  

It appears they have been waiting for quite some time as they were playing some kind of dice game, a bored expression could be seen on both of their faces. They have been doing this for quite a while I would guess. 

Seralyn saw us enter first and proceeded to sit straight up.  

''Finally, we've been waiting since forever.'' 

''I can see that.'' Velariah answered. ''Patience is a virtue, though.'' 

Look who's talking. 

I sat down and observed Draco rolling three dice. I was trying to figure out what this game was all about. I wondered if they knew Yahtzee? I doubted it. I could probably teach them sometime. That should be easy enough to ''invent''.  

''You okay? you're awfully quiet.'' Seralyn asked me, in a teasing tone. It appeared she knew something happened and she wasn't exactly subtle about it. 

''Huh? I'm fine, I just got a lot of information I need to process.''  

I wasn't exactly lying when I said that. I was still thinking about all the things Velariah had told me about this world. To be honest, it made me want to share more things about my world, this seemed rather unfair. There were a whole bunch of things I wanted to tell her. If we had stayed at her place, I could have probably talked for hours. 

''Oh, what kind of information are we talking about?'' She raised her eyebrows. 

I was so not in the mood to answer her questions right now. 

''Just drop it.'' Draco spoke. 

Thanks, Draco. 

''Drop it? Hah, I'm about to drop the hammer on you. Here, watch this!'' 

She rolled the dice, a three a four and a one.  

''Nice hammer that was. Now pay up!'' Draco grinned. 

Oh, it seemed he was rather serious about this game. I didn't know that side about him. That could just be a reaction to Seralyn's cocky attitude too though. I would probably react the same way, she basically invited it.  

Seralyn was a bad influence on all of us. 

The brown-haired elf sighed, reached into her pack, fished out two copper coins and handed them to Draco. 

Nope, I didn't have the slightest idea how this game worked. At least it seemed Seralyn was easily distracted and didn’t inquire further. 

''Right.'' Velariah stated. ''So, preparations for tomorrow. What do we need?''  

''Besides our usual gear and the cart that Elania suggested, not that much I presume?'' Draco answered. 

Velariah started to recount. ''Food, water, a cart, some containers. Anything else?'' 

Oh shit, I would still have to reserve that cart. I'd completely forgotten about it. Stupid alcohol! 

''Some anti-venom would probably be a good idea.'' I suggested. ''Seeing as we are up against scorpions.'' 

''Fair point, I believe we have a couple yellow ones at home mixed in between the painkiller potions. I'd have to smell them to be sure but they should do the trick.''  

Velariah was a master actress, the words just flowed naturally and did not give away the slightest hint of me being able to create, or her being in possession of orange ones. Also, what was that with smelling? Could you tell the difference between a painkiller potion and yellow-quality anti venom by smell? I guessed that made sense. It would be impossible to tell them apart otherwise. 

I was fairly certain they would bring the basic mix with them anyway, I could save their lives with it in a pinch, if necessary, although I'd ideally avoid that scenario entirely. If the only weapons these scorpions possessed would be their venom, I would probably be the one to get their attention locked onto me. 

I just hoped they didn't have huge claws. They probably did, but one could only hope... 

''Sound plan, anything else?'' Seralyn asked.  

''Probably stuffing our favorite spider's face.'' Velariah added. 

I didn't know how to react to that. She was right, now would be an ideal time to stock up on sustenance. I just really wasn't feeling it right now. And I even promised to make up for the missed days of discount on food. Well, not that it mattered for me anyway, since I could eat for multiple days in one sitting, but still! 

''Fine.'' I had ultimately sighed as I surrendered myself to the idea of having to eat for a while, knowing it was going to be a necessity.  

It would probably be better to get this out of the way today. I reckoned we wanted to leave early tomorrow.  

''Stuffing?'' Seralyn asked curiously while looking at me. 

I sighed again. ''Vel, you tell her.''  

Seralyn interjected. ''Uh-oh'' 

I did it again, didn't I? 

''It's Velariah, how many times do I have to explain this?''  

Sigh, here we go with the lecturing again. I rolled my eyes in reaction. 

''Anyway.'' She continued. ''In case you didn't know, Elania can literally eat for days in one sitting and then go for days without food.'' She paused for a few seconds before her neutral expression turned into a smile. That couldn't be good. 

''She doesn't seem to get fat from it either, at least not that I could see.'' 

Thanks, Vel.  

My face went beet red, I could feel it. Did she really have to tell that in public? What would they think? 

''What? That's cheating! Why can't I have that?'' 

I silently thanked fate that Seralyn was as dense as a rock. 

''Well, you can’t have one without the other.'' I let out, hoping she would get what I was referring to. 

''Yikes, never mind.''  

Exactly. 

Also, harsh. 

''You guys don't want anything?'' I asked around as the waiter overheard that we were going to order food.  

They each shook their head.  

Guess I'm doing this alone then, awkward. 

Eight sausages, five cheese omelets, six baked potatoes, some vegetables, two bowls of onion soup with bread, a roasted chicken, three glasses of kingberry juice and a lot of weird stares coming from Seralyn later, it was time to check if we could reserve a cart at the Lore keeper's desk.  

The elf behind the desk said she would open up the warehouse so we could take a look inside to see what would fit us best. 

We walked around the building to find the large doors already opened. This time, the place was actually lit up by torches that emitted an eerie blue glow without flames. That didn't seem natural at all, I wondered what kind of fuel they used. 

Now that the place was lit up, I could make out many more items and goods that were placed here. Rows of crates filled up one of the sections entirely. The section where we dropped off the boar and bear last time was left completely empty. The right side of the warehouse seemed to be transport orientated. Several carts, empty crates and buckets were neatly arranged in rows from small to large.  

The whole building had everything neatly organized. The only thing that missed from the picture was a set of glasses on the lore keeper's nose which she could push like an anime protagonist. Her role in the guild was indispensable, it deserved to be mentioned.  

I walked through the building, checking out the carts as I went by them.  

These were much like how I imagined the carts would look like. A wooden transportation means with two wheels that was supposed to be pulled by a horse. The largest one in the building seemed to have enough space for all three of my companions to sit and even sleep in. It looked sturdy enough to carry quite a bit of weight so I decided to settle on reserving this one for tomorrow's departure.  

I asked if we could also take some crates with us to store the goods in. Having scorpion stingers just laying around passengers didn't seem like something to look forward to.  

The Lore keeper assured it was no problem, but we would have to pay the one gold up front as deposit.  

Might as well do that now.  

I had Velariah pay the lore keeper as I put a few crates on the cart. They looked strong enough for my companions to sit on without breaking. I imagined that would make the trip much more comfortable. 

While I was certain this would work out, I would have to check exactly how I was going to pull this cart. The bars were not meant for a body like my own. I was probably going to be looking at fastening it with silky threads. Actually, scrap that, somebody else would have to fasten it to me. Not something I was looking forward to... 

A spider's life of struggles... 

With that out of the way, it was time to dot the i's and cross the t's.  

We bought a couple tools to help us out for the next couple days. A couple of knifes for cutting, a spade to get at least one crate filled with ash to demonstrate its properties. A pickaxe, just in case we stumbled upon some interesting volcanic rocks. Volcanoes tended to be a treasure trove of gems, after all! I hoped we'd find anything interesting in that regard.  

We also got a couple metal canteens to make sure we would stay hydrated during our scaling of the mountain. It tended to be quite warm around volcanoes for obvious reasons. 

Searing Peak was an easy to climb mountain from what I had been told, so climbing equipment was not going to be a necessity.  

Tomorrow morning, we were going to buy food and the likes for the others.  

Draco carried all the goods we just bought in his large backpack. He said he would have all the canteens filled upon meeting.  

''I guess that takes care of everything. Did we overlook something?'' Velariah asked as we were grouped up in front of the large oak. 

I couldn't help but feel like we had missed something. I recounted everything multiple times in my head but couldn't find anything. Now, that might put the common person at ease, but it only made my paranoia worse.  

When the others couldn't find anything to add either it did put me at ease to a certain degree, but I still couldn't shake it off. I was probably going to lose sleep over this as well, I just knew it. 

This world really wasn't good for my heart. 

With our planning complete, we decided to split up and meet again tomorrow morning at the guild. Velariah and I were going to relax in the field for a while, Draco was going to see Coldanus to see if he could come up with some kind of axe-shield hybrid and Seralyn was off to do... whatever she was going to do, she didn't really mention anything in specific. 

I hoped for Draco that Veltheril's ''talk'' with the weaponsmith had the desired effect. I wondered what he actually did. 

The elf and I found ourselves a nice spot in the grass not too far from the checkpoint next to the road leading to the forest. It seemed the guards had cleaned up the mess that was left after yesterday's fight. The grass was still burnt where the goblins had been incinerated and there was still the black patch on the road where the human mage had been evaporated by Valtheril's spell. Other than that, the bodies were all gone. 

I decided to ask Velariah after we sat down on the grass. 

''Is your father's strength normal for his level?'' 

''What do you mean?'' the elf replied. 

''I mean, he said the adventurer was mid ranked in diamond, right? As far as I know Valtheril is only one rank above that but he basically swatted him like a fly, at least that’s what it felt like.'' 

''Yeah, my father is pretty good, isn't he? The truth is, he has been stuck on that rank for so long and his strength hasn't stopped growing. I think he could be easily classified as an Abyss level adventurer.'' 

''But?'' I inquired, I could feel a ''but'' coming after what she said. 

''But there haven't been any Abyss level quests in years now. They are exceedingly rare, which is part of the reason only so few people rise up to that level.'' 

''I would guess technically that's a good thing?''  

Velariah chuckled. 

''Technically speaking, yes. Abyss level quests are only handed out in extreme conditions. Such as when a kingdom is threatened by the existence of a high-tier dungeon that has lost control.'' 

That didn't sound good. I looked at her with a questioning look. It seems she got the notion. 

''Dungeons are held together by a core, I've told you this. Now, sometimes the core gets damaged by external force, massive mana intakes or lack of it altogether. When that happens, the dungeon can go out of control, causing it to spawn creatures that are held together by tainted corium. This type of corium manifests itself in the creature physically as a black liquid. These creatures are extremely strong and even when killing them, this tainted corium seeps out and causes all kinds of issues to the environment. It corrupts and ultimately kills everything it touches, and it keeps growing, like a cancer. If those creatures manage to escape a dungeon's confines, the results are nothing short of disaster. This black liquid is where the color of the highest tier of adventurers originated from, it refers to tainted corium, as they were the only people that could handle these types of quests. Although there are more possible reasons for black or abyss level quests to be issued, these are definitely the most dangerous.'' 

''Tainted corium sounds hella dangerous.'' I concluded from the truckload of information I was just fed. 

''It is, this is why the guild keeps close tabs on dungeons, examine and explore them. This is why new dungeons must be reported to the guild as soon as possible. Corium corruption has leveled cities in the past.'' 

Holy shit, that stuff sounded dangerous.  

''How do you cure corium corruption in the environment?'' I asked. 

She shook her head. 

''You don't, complete disintegration of whatever it touches is the only way to get rid of it.'' 

''In that case, I doubt your father minds staying in diamond rank. I think he prefers peace above all else.''  

''he does, but if he is needed, he will rise to the occasion.'' Velariah laid on her back and looked at the sky.  

''I figured as much.'' I laid down on my arms and let my non-human parts bask in the warmth of the sun once more. 

''What other quests would be considered of the highest possible tier?'' I asked. 

''Extremely strong sentient monsters.'' Velariah said. ''If Ember decides to go berserk and attack people, she would be considered an abyss level monster.''  

That seemed about right, I imagined dragons were one of the strongest races, no matter what fantasy world one would find themselves in. 

''What's the deal with Ember anyway? I heard she likes company, why doesn't she just go visit Dawnleaf herself or something?'' 

''She can't.''  

''Huh?'' 

''She can't leave the Searing Peak. Her eggs can only hatch near the heat of the volcano and without her protection, they would either be stolen by rogue adventurers or destroyed and eaten by local predators.'' 

''That sounds... inconvenient to say the least.'' I spoke. 

I already pitied the dragon. Such a mighty and sentient creature, locked in a metaphorical cage.  

''Yeah, I think I would go insane. Apparently, she has lived there for thousands of years yet still possesses her sanity. I don't know how she does it.'' 

''I can see why she likes people stopping by, an eternity without anyone to talk to is torture.''  

Poor Ember, I actually felt for her, despite not knowing the dragon. 

''What about your world?'' Velariah looked at me with a smile. ''Tell me about where you come from.'' 

I chuckled. ''Heh, where to start?'' 

''Let's start by what they write about us. You said elves existed in fiction in your world, right?'' The elf looked at me expectantly. 

''I mean, yes. it's widely known elves are incredibly beautiful, have pointy ears, live to very old ages, are good at archery, live in treehouses in forest, the-''  

I was cut off by a loud laugh. 

''Live in treehouses? What a bunch of crap! That makes no sense, unless you want to be raided by goblins in the middle of the night!''  

''Honestly, I have no idea who came up with that idea, don't blame me.'' I smirked.  

''The rest seems to be about right, though. I wonder how they knew?'' Velariah added. 

''Honestly? No idea. It’s actually scary how much of that is correct.'' 

''Aww, thank you Elania.'' 

''Wait, what?'' I replied in a confused manner. 

''You just called me beautiful.'' Velariah smiled widely. 

''I guess I did, huh?" I smiled as well. It wasn't untrue at all. 

''So, what else, you said you had advanced weapons, how do you hunt monsters?'' 

''We don't.'' 

''Eh?'' 

''We don't hunt at all, well, some people do for sport. We don't have monsters of any sort. There are animals and there are humans. Unless you count the larger animal species as monsters, they simply don't exist. Those hellspiders from before? Nope, the largest spiders on earth can walk around on your palm. Those Saibon boars? Well, we have boars, but the largest species would barely reach above your hips, and they certainly don't grow trees on their backs.''  

Velariah looked at me with large eyes as I continued.  

''That Bunbear? Bears are a thing, but they don't have long ears like that. I have no idea how large those scorpions are but the largest scorpions on Earth can also walk on your palm.'' 

''Sounds like a boring world.'' 

''Heh, I guess it is compared to this one.''  

''Then how do you get meat?'' Velariah asked. 

''Well, as I said before, some people hunt animals for food but that’s only a small portion of the population. Most of us buy food in something called a supermarket. It's a store where they have all kinds of food including meat that is already cut from animals. Let me tell you something, it tastes far worse than the meat here.'' 

''What an interesting world.'' The elf concluded. 

''For you guys, I guess so, for me, it's the same old. To me, this world is very interesting, there's things that I would never have imagined possible.''  

''Such as?'' Velariah curiously asked. 

''Oh, you know, magic, dungeons, being half spider, things like that.'' I replied with a hint of sarcasm at the last thing I mentioned. 

''Even I wouldn't have thought it was possible, but then again, I also wouldn't think it was possible for someone from another world to appear here.'' 

''You know the fun part? Remember the fiction I told you about? There is a huge amount of a certain type of fiction where somebody gets teleported or reincarnated into another world, that type even got their own name. Can you believe it?'' 

Velariah laughed out loud. 

''So, you mean to say you're some kind of protagonist? Some nice protagonist you are!'' 

''Hey, what's that supposed to mean?''  

''You can't even remove arrows from your own butt!'' She continued in a laughing fit.  

''Touché, Vel, touché.'' I grinned. 

''It's Velariah.'' She said before she continued laughing. 

''You know I'm never going to learn, right?'' I rolled my eyes. 

''I know, but I'll keep trying. Maybe someday you will learn.'' 

''Make me.'' I replied in defiance.  

''Oh, I will.'' She said confidently after her laughing had died down to a giggle. ''I will.'' 

Faragi

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