Chapter Twenty-Four - Rockstack
I moved with a skip to my step. So, Mister Menu, feel free to tell me about yourself, I said to the box floating before me. Im sorry that I havent spoken to you in a while. I was sort of busy. Then again, I know that youre kind of shy when youre on the job.
The menu popped away, letting me see the long, treacherous road ahead. A thought made it come back.
Now, now, no running away! I chided. I need to grind my new skill. Youre the one who gave it to me. Or at least, I think you are. It doesnt feel like something Miss Menu would do.
The box just displayed the same thing it had for the past twenty minutes or so.
Friendmaking
Rank F - 13%
The ability to make friends. As you practice this skill your ability to make friends will improve.
Come on, I need to get this skill super high so that I can make all the friends! I told the menu box. Maybe we can try hugging again?
The box popped away.
No fun! I called after it.
Shaking my head, I refocused on the road and kept on walking. I had an eye open for any interesting plants, but so far all I had found was a nice spread of chamomile to top up my tea reserves. There were other plants along the road, but none that had properties that interested me.
I wasnt about to start carrying around poisons if I could avoid it. That just wasnt a very nice thing to do.
I hopped up to a low hanging branch, then started jumping from tree to tree without using any stamina. It was good practice in case I had to make a run for it.
Mister Menu, can I see my profile please?
Name Broccoli Bunch Race Human (Riftwalker) First Class Cinnamon Bun First Class Level 4 Age
16
Health
115
Stamina
125
Mana
105
Resilience
25
Flexibility
25
Magic
10
Skills Rank Cinnamon Bun Skills Cleaning C - 93% Jumping C - 57% Gardening E - 13% General Skills Insight C - 17% Makeshift Weapon Proficiency E - 04% Archeology F - 39% Friendmaking F - 13% Skill points
2
Class slots
0
General Skill Points
1
Cleaning was reaching the edge of Rank B. I wasnt exactly grinding it ceaselessly, but I was trying to make sure that my mana was never completely topped off just so that I didnt waste any time.
Hello! I called out to them as I got closer.
A bored Grenoil Fencer, (Level ?).
A bored Grenoil Hunter, (Level ?).
Hail, traveller, the hunter said. He seemed to snap himself awake as I came closer. What business do you have in Rockstack? Ah, I mean, Royal Outpost Seven?
I stopped when I was still a dozen steps away from them, just in case they got nervous. This isnt Rockstack? I asked.
The fencer sighed. It is. At least, zats what everyone calls it. Official name is Royal Outpost Seven. Not zat you look like an inspector.
Well okay then, I said. Im here to find a place to rest, and maybe a way to get to Port Royal?
The hunter nodded. Zats fair. Might take a while before ze next caravan passes zrough. As for ze place to rest, go ask Juliette at ze Inn. You cant miss it.
Its on the main road? I asked.
They both laughed, croaky chuckles that calmed down after a moment. Miss, zere are only seven buildings here. If you cant afford an inn room zen its off to the tents with you.
Oh, I said. If there are so few buildings, then what are the walls for? I asked.
Keep zings zat want to eat you out at night. Had a high-ranking Wood Mage show up when ze outpost was still fresh. Built ze walls in a few minutes is what I heard.
The fencer shook his head. It took hours, he said. Zis idiot is just trying to impress you.
Whoa, thats still awesome! I said. I have a Gardening Skill, do you think I could do that?
The hunter looked at his buddy and it was clear he was trying not to laugh. Yeah, sure. Go on in kid.
I did as he said, running through the arch and into Rockstack. My eyes went huge as I tried to take it all in at once. There were people here, and a ring of buildings that all looked strange and unique, but what caught my eye right away was the huge structure right in the middle of the sort of square that made up the centre of the outpost.
It was a stack of rocks. Sort of like the little stacks someone bored might make by balancing one rock atop another, only this stack was ten meters tall and had rocks that would more appropriately be called boulders. There were three stacks, each one arching up at the top and meeting in the middle at a shiny black stone covered in little golden flecks.
Fools gold, if I had to guess, but pretty all the same.
I tore my eyes away from the strange sorta-sculpture and took in the rest. The guards were right; there were only seven proper buildings in the outpost. There was a huge inn to one side, then three little shops with second floors that probably had apartments. Then a big blacksmiths shop. There was a huge home that looked like it belonged to someone important, and lastly two large buildings that were both square and boring-looking, as if someone had built a fantasy office building out in the middle of nowhere.
There were a few people around, all grenoil and all minding their own business, so I decided to do the same.
Where do I start...? I wondered aloud.
The obvious answer was, of course, the Inn. Thats where all the best adventures began, after all. The Inn was a long building with a huge front. Three stories tall and completely out of place in the middle of nowhere like this. It was a bit strange to see such a large building so far from a proper village, but maybe there were enough travellers to make it viable.
There was a sign on the front with a frog jumping into a mug and the words Hop on Inn after it.
Grinning, I held on to my backpack by the straps and ran over to the building, every part of me ready for my first chance to see the inside of a working inn.
The doors were, disappointingly, normal, but the moment I stepped through the threshold I was inundated with the sound of glasses clinking, people talking in low murmurs, the strumming of a lute and the mixed smells of sweaty people and fresh food.
I had found a small paradise.