Chapter One Hundred and Two. Straight outta Harbordeep.

Chapter One Hundred and Two. Straight outta Harbordeep.

Bob hurried down the boulevard, eager to be done with meeting the parents.

He was maybe forty-five minutes away from putting Harbordeep in his rearview.

The city was lovely, but the implacable hierarchy of tier was an oppressive weight that never lifted.

In Holmstead, he'd finally started to feel like he could just be. He didn't need to walk around with his head down or hunch his shoulders to make himself smaller or any of the other mannerisms he'd adopted as a child to keep himself safer.

Harbordeep brought all of that back.

No, Bob was happy to be leaving even if he had picked up over a dozen hitchhikers.

Nora's father was trailing behind him, and that was a situation he'd be just happy to stay out of, although he had a feeling that he would inevitably be pulled into it.

He was taking the man's teenage daughter on a two hundred-mile road trip to a frontier town.

Bob shook his head and reached up to give Monroe a chin rub.

Holmstead awaited him. Harv, Elli, Bailli, Kelli, Eddi, and even Thidwell.

He was going to sleep in his own bed at murmuring falls tonight.

"We'll be home soon, buddy," Bob whispered to Monroe, his words drowned out by the Maine-Coone's purr.

Turning down the street towards the harbor, Bob spotted a crowd of people seated at the cafe, his freshers prominent amongst them, as most wore armor and carried weapons.

As he walked up to the group, his freshers stood up and nodded to him, drawing their parents' attention to the target of their ire.

"Good morning," Bob said, "my name is Bob, and I've either been shepherding or," he glanced at four kids who weren't wearing armor or carrying weapons, "I've been asked to shepherd your children."

"Scheduling issues with my own personal progression have caused me to reevaluate my stay here in Harbordeep, so I've decided to return to my home," Bob raised his voice to carry over the mutters of the parents, "however, as I've committed to helping your children, I've offered to bring them with me, and return them once they have become fully capable Adventurers."

"I'm going to sit over there," Bob gestured towards an empty table away from the group, "and you can approach me, one at a time, to discuss whatever concerns you might have."

Bob sat down at the table and watched as Rogard approached a surprised-looking Nora.

One of the new freshers approached with his father in tow, and Bob slid Monroe onto the table, hoping that the floofer would put the parents at ease.

Nora was surprised to see her father.

She'd planned to see her family again after she'd become a proper Adventurer and proven that she was capable of taking care of herself.

"Nora," he exclaimed and moved to embrace her in a hug.

"Father," she replied, her voice muffled as she was pulled tightly against his chest.

"I've been worried about you," he said quietly, "you went rushing out and didn't come back, or even send a message letting us know you were alright."

"I'm fine," Nora replied, disengaging herself from her father's arms.

"Let me look at you," Rogard said, pulling back and holding her at arm's reach, inspecting her armor.

"You certainly do look the part of an Adventurer," he said with a sigh.

"That's because I am one," Nora said stiffly, "or I will be soon enough."The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Rogard gestured towards a table, where they both sat.

"You could come home instead," Rogard said hopefully, "I know your grandfather can be a bit much, but I can tell you that there is a good reason for the Geas."

"My position on that hasn't changed," Nora responded, "I'm not going to accept it."

Her father grimaced and leaned forward, speaking quietly, "You do realize that with a common path, you'll have difficulty being accepted in our family's social circles?"

Nora shook her head.

"I'd rather live life as a commoner than perpetuate deceit and abuse of power," Nora growled before softening her expression and taking her father's hand.

"I love you, I do," she said earnestly, "but I can't be part of that."

"There has to be a middle ground," Rogard said, "you don't have to run off after him," he jerked his head towards Bob.

"I've made friends," Nora replied, "and we are going to be delving the Dungeon together once Bob feels confident that we can do so safely."

"Safe," her father scoffed, "there is no such thing as a safe delve into the Dungeon."

"True," Nora conceded, "but you can be as safe as possible if you follow the rules."

"What rules?" Rogard asked.

Nora's head was spinning as she ran through another portal, supposedly the last.

She'd seen snow-covered meadows, windswept mountain ledges, quiet evergreen woods, and now she was looking down onto a huge valley.

It was a patchwork of fields, farms, and houses, a river snaking its way through the valley, running through the walled town that stood slightly back from the center of the valley.

"Here we are," she heard Bob say, "Holmstead."

"We'll be walking from here," Bob said, "it's just a couple of hours to town, and then we'll get you squared away into lodging at the Guild."

Nora had to watch her footing as she followed their shepherd down the ridge and through the woods.

There wasn't really a path, and she'd nearly tripped on roots and stones concealed under the snow.

"Isn't this exciting?" Wayna said, "I've never been outside of Harbordeep before."

"Bob sure picked some nice places to portal to," Orson agreed, "those views, especially from the mountains..."

"I'm just trying to come to terms with the twelve hundred mana crystals he just spent to get us here," Nora said.

"He probably could have just done a bunch of little jumps to get here by himself with using ritual magic," Charn agreed.

"That's exactly how he scouted out the destinations to portal to," Erick said from behind them, causing Nora to jump and nearly trip.

"He told me it took him about three hundred portals and the better part of half a day to map it," he continued, "and honestly, it was only possible because he can fly, so he could just portal around at a high enough altitude to keep his bearings."

"Is that common?" Nora asked.

"For dimensionalists? I believe so," Erick said, "opening portals for groups of people to bring goods to and from Harbordeep is a profitable occupation, so the dimensionalists keep their routes up to date."

"I didn't know he could fly," Wayna said.

"Neither did I," Erick admitted, "but to be fair, I don't actually know Bob very well."

"Aren't you from Holmstead, though?" Nora pressed.

"Born and raised here," Erick said with a note of pride, "and while I never knew Bob, apparently my fiance is good friends with him."

"Bob seems to really miss it," she said quietly.

They emerged from the woods and onto a road, that while still covered with snow, at least didn't hold a plethora of hidden rocks and roots.

Bob called for a stop as he looked down the road as it gently descended a series of hills.

He turned to face them, and Nora was surprised at the merry smile on his face.

He cast a spell, likely summoning, she thought, and a long flat platform appeared on the ground.

It was ten feet long, three feet wide, and the front end curled up.

"This," Bob said, as he summoned a second one next to the first, "is a toboggan."

Bob grinned as Monroe nuzzled his cheek, the big cat uncharacteristically pleased by this activity.

Then again, Bob reflected, Monroe liked snow.

Bob was riding the last of the three toboggans he had summoned, locking them down with persistent effect.

He was using a control water spell cast as an area of effect to keep the snow under the sleds smooth as they raced down the hills towards Holmstead.

There had been some initial trepidation from the freshers, but soon they were laughing and yelling like the kids they were.

He'd played around and managed to keep the snow smooth while making it either more or less granular, which allowed him to control the speed of their descent.

The kids were having a blast, and Bob was certain he'd heard Erick's laughter as well.

As the hills started to ease, Bob started using his control water spell to keep them moving at speed until finally, the land flattened out completely about a quarter of a mile from town, and he brought the toboggan convoy to a halt and released his persistent effects.

"That was amazing," Wayna yelled as she stood up from where the toboggan had disappeared.

Numerous affirmations and assertions of agreement followed, and Bob gave them a minute before walking to the front of the group.

"I'm glad everyone enjoyed the ride," he called loudly, "and I can assure you that a hot and tasty meal and a warm bath is only ten minutes down the road!"

Bob started walking towards the town, a smile playing across his face, as he considered everything that had happened between now and when he'd first staggered into sight of Holmstead.

He didn't know exactly when it had happened, but at some point, Holmstead had become his home.

And he was glad to be back.