Interconnected: Spliced Souls

We decided giant rats would be our targets after picking up three quests that required their tails. It was easy, and together, we figured it would be a good starting experience to help warm up before we take on anything more challenging. We had the quests in hand and realized Claire was working today, so we stood behind a green-haired elf chatting her up.   

“Anyways, what do you want for dinner? I can swing by the market when my shift ends,” said the unknown elf. “Hmm? Claire-bear, I think you're needed.” She turned around and smiled, her emerald-like eyes glimmering. She was dressed casually– almost like what a wife or mother would wear when running after their husband or child to give them something they forgot. The off-shoulder blouse was cute, though.  

She had matching tattoos of a red flower on the back of her palms.  

“Ah, it's you three,” replied Claire, offering a wave when the green-haired elf moved a step to the side. “You're burning the morning oil, aren't you?”  

“Claire-bear? That's totally adorable!” Momo squealed. Srassa and I offered our good mornings. The elf introduced herself as Claire’s roommate, Dineria. She was an adventurer, like us, but she was far more experienced than we were. We chatted and found out Dineria was taking a sabbatical from adventuring to focus on herself. She and Claire first met a year or two ago when Dineria rolled into town, and the two casually hit it off.   

“Oh? Going after rats?” inquired Dineria.  

“Yeah. It's a nice warm-up quest before we take on something else,” I replied, summoning my phone.   

“Is that a Skill Tablet?!” exclaimed the elf. She stopped herself from yanking it. “Why does it look like that? It's so…small and skinny…”  

“Yeah. It was different yesterday. I've never seen anything like it.”  

“Is it that odd? My goddess's ability lets me morph it into something more usable.”  

“What's her name?”  

“I don't know,” I replied to Dineria, lying through my teeth. “It’s supposed to say it at the top or something, right? But it doesn't say anything at all. I think it's cute. It's portable and easier to manage.”  

Srassa remained silent, but only because she was shaking in her boots. Her shyness and nervousness were working double time. Claire took the three quests, our Skill Tablets, and Srassa's dog tags and registered us for the quests. When I got my phone back, I confirmed that the same mission appeared three times. Even better, there was automatic tracking of our objectives, courtesy of Itarr.   

She's so amazing.  

“Is that a language your goddess allows you to understand?” Dineria stood over my back and snooped, but I didn't mind.   

“I guess,” I said, hitting a button at the side designed to shut the screen off. It was basically a sleep button. Unnecessary, given the context, but Itarr said it didn't take long to add. “It comes to me like I've known it all my life.”  

“Learning languages like that is not totally unheard of. My grandpa was blessed with a few language skills, so he could talk with the Dogkins and Elephantkins without any issue. But his Skill Tablet looked just like mine,” Momo added.   

Dineria asked if Momo was blessed, and she shook her head. Momo asked the same question, but the elf nodded. “Yep. My goddess granted me some bow skills. I don't mean to brag, but I'm quite the sharpshooter! Maybe I can teach you guys one day.”  

“You don't mean to brag? Din-Din, you brag every day, haha,” Claire chuckled.   

“Eh? I guess I do. Anyways, I'll be late to open my store if I don't leave now. I'll swing by the market and get the food for dinner. Servi, Momo, Srassa. It was nice to meet you three. Take care, okay? And don't be rash. Rats are rats, but overeagerness can morph into danger in the blink of an eye,” Dineria said, waving while walking away.   

“She owns a shop?” I asked, turning to Claire.   

“Yes. It's called Levourisa Woods, or Levo Woods, as she likes to call it. It's a store specializing in archery supplies, but it has a quirk. The shop is made out of wood and other materials that can only be found in nature. You'd be hard-pressed to find an ounce of metal on the premises. Other than dupla, that is.”  

“She's a Forest Elf, right?” Momo inquired. When Claire nodded, she looked at me and said Forest Elves had a great distaste for touching anything metal or not crafted from Mother Nature. Claire thought it was weird I needed that explained. Now seemed like the best time to bring up my missing memories.   

The care she showed afterwards was heartwarming. She reaffirmed that she was ready to help me by answering questions or explaining any confusion I may have had.   

I thanked her, and after waving goodbye, it was finally time to start on our quests.   

“Ms. Momo”  

“Yeah? What's up?”  

“Do you…think I'll ever be like Dineria?” Srassa looked up, showing a downcast expression. “She looks so powerful. I can't explain it, but…”  

“She did look cool. But if you want my opinion, my grandpa told me I shouldn't strive to be like him. It was okay to have him as my goal, but it should be an unattainable goal because there was only one of him. And there's just one of me. And I don't equal him, and he doesn't equal me.”  

“That's kinda deep.”  

“Hehe! See, I can be a deep gal sometimes. Now, come on! We got some rats to kill!”  

We left through the guild and headed to the sewers.   

---

The journey to acquire fifteen tails wasn't time-consuming because we encountered way more of them than yesterday. Momo said that most monsters usually spawn in the mornings, so it was a good idea to strike early. If you let too much time pass, the rats, in this case, would wander and make themselves scarce. But that wasn't an ironclad rule. Some enemies were nocturnal and acted at night as if it was the crack of dawn.   

“Hiyaaaa!!” Momo shouted, dodging to the left to avoid a charging rat. It slammed head-first into the wall, cracking both it and its skull. She opened her hand and fired off a bolt of non-elemental energy that slammed into its diseased-ridden, festering hide. Srassa held her shield and sword together, blocking strikes from a second rat that joined.  

I was behind her and worked with her motions, running around her left and jabbing my sword through the rat when she deflected it to the right. Its tail tried to swipe at me, but I caught it in its place and fired off a [Shadow Shot] to its legs, nearly severing it. But since it had no tendons to support it, I left Srassa to kill it while rushing to Momo, using [Lock-On] to throw my sword right through the rat's head, piercing it to the wall.   

Momo followed up. She jabbed her thin longsword through its eye and finished it off.   

“I'll never get over how cool that is. You can throw your sword, then have it vanish and return to your side like an awesome, badass hero. IT'S SO COOL!!!” Momo gushed.   

“We're meshing kinda well, don't you think?” I asked, retrieving my sword. I had to be within five feet to store it in my ring, but that was a pretty big distance when you thought about it. “It feels weird, but I don't think it's just beginner's luck.”  

“I think it's Srassa. She's the reason. Haven't you noticed it when you were behind her?” 

“I'm sorry!”  

“No, don't be sorry. Be proud. I studied you yesterday and today, and you're like a supporter fighter. It's very…what's the word I'm looking for… Faint? It's very faint, but you're reacting to what we do instead of the other way around. Like a fundamental level, I can see the effort." 

Then again, these are just rats. They're weak, but that doesn't handwave the hard work Srassa devoted to honing her skills.  

“Umm… Thank you, Ms. Momo! The instructor my father hired taught me for a decade. I'm 18, so I was still a girl when I was sent away.”  

“But you came back, right? It's not like you spent ten years away from your family?”  

“Well, my parents came to visit me. Mother and father lived in Adenaford and visited me four times a year. The three holidays differed, but they always spent my birthday with me. Jony mainly took care of me during that time.”  

Jony? I asked how old he was, and Srassa said he was 29. So he had 11 years, so I guess the timeline made sense.   

Some deep instinct within told me something didn't line up. I didn't know if I was trying to delve into something that wasn't there or if this uncomfortable feeling was related to my memories.   

But whatever it was didn't matter.   

We had a few rat tails, and these dead corpses added more. Itarr processed them, and we continued our rodent extermination.   

It took us nearly 40 minutes to finish up, and during that, Srassa answered Momo's questions about her instructor. He was a kobold– a giant reptilian humanoid with the head and tail of a crocodile while retaining the overall bipedal body shape of a humanoid. Their skin was scaled, could be anywhere from reddish brown to green, and their eyes often matched their skin tone. It was nice hearing Srassa recall his training arena. She endured pure hell to learn his method of fighting.    

Srassa's sword and shield adaption-focused combat didn't have a name, but she wanted to eventually branch off into daggers, axes, maces, and hammers. All while using a shield, of course. 

We chatted about the different weapons and how best they could be used while returning to Claire with the fifteen tails.   

Grrrrrr! 

“Is that your stomach?” I asked as the receptionist counted out our reward. My total earnings were 44 dupla and 4 SP, so it was probably time to scour the phone to see what abilities I could buy.   

“Yeah. I had such a big dinner last night that I had a small breakfast." 

“The chef prepared fruit-covered toast with honey and syrup,” Srassa added. “When I retrieved my crest, I ate another helping.”  

“I should've done the same… Ah, but this gives me a good idea. Hey, I'll be right back, okay?” Momo skipped to the quest board and hummed while her eyes scanned intensely. When she saw something that made her cute ears twitch, she returned with a piece of paper. “Are you girls up for a little traveling?”  

“Hmmm… May I see it?” Claire asked, giving us our monetary reward. She took the paper. “Ah, I remember putting this up. The client wishes to be escorted into the heart of Lucoa Forest to search for akablooms. They're these red flowers used in making medicine to relieve pain.” 

I recall seeing a red plant last night, Itarr said.  

“Oh, and that reminds me. Try not to be out after dark. While you were in the sewers, we received a report of two robberies that probably happened late last night. The criminal left behind a pair of red jewels, but the guards don't know what they are or if they mean anything. If you see anything suspicious, let them know, okay?” 

It seems our break-ins were discovered. Are we in danger? 

I took out my phone and quickly shot a message. No one can connect us to it. But we might have to spread rumors tonight about how valuable they are. We can manipulate the mystery behind them and make sure they're sold for a good amount to pay for the items we stole.  

“But anyways, what do you guys think about the quest? As an adventurer, sometimes you need to travel to complete your missions. And sometimes, you might have to travel overnight. Heck, you might have to be on the road for a few weeks. It just depends on your destination. But Lucoa Village is about 2 hours away. We can be there and back again before nightfall.”  

“It sounds fine, but why don't we stop by the market and get some stuff for lunch? It might be nice to have a snack along the way.”  

“Sounds good to me. Srassa, how do you feel about it?”  

“I would like to take the quest, Ms. Momo!” replied the noble, perhaps with a touch of too much enthusiasm. It was like she didn't know the correct tone to respond in. Again, I knew she was shy and anxious, but to be that socially unaware? I thought nobles were supposed to act dignified and regal, with the proper manners. 

Or were my faint, generic memories just a lie and not the truth?  

…  

I decided to shake my head and rid my mind of those concerns. By framing it as Srassa being a unique individual, the mysteries almost seemed to be solved by using that as a base.   

“Then it's settled. Claire, we're gonna take on that escort quest. And I can use my stipend to pay for our food.”  

“Ms. Momo, mother said that money is for you, not for you to spend on me.”  

“But I am spending it on me. It just so happens to include you two as well. Besides, I'm doing it because I want to. We can't exactly fight on an empty stomach, especially since the only thing Servi ate this morning was a half plate of eggs.”  

“But in my defense, they were fulfilling eggs. I was stuffed,” I replied, lying. I didn't need food, water, sleep, or even rest. It didn't feel right for Momo to waste her well-earned money on me, but saying anything would probably turn the mood sour.   

“True, but the captain has spoken.” We formally accepted the quest and left after waving goodbye to Claire.   

The market was our next destination. Then it was time to travel. 

It took probably fifteen minutes to get to the outdoor market. The merchants had food carts or mobile tables they rolled out to set up their produce, meat, and other supplies.   

It was like walking into a whirlwind of mixed smells and overeager sellers frothing at the mouth to make a quick dupla. But it wasn't that packed, which was nice. We weren't shoulder to shoulder and had time to peruse for what looked good. As a group, we decided it would be best to stick to something simple.   

We didn't have a portable grill, a fire pit, or fire magic, so meat was out of the question. And buying already prepared meat would mean it would get cold by the time we wanted to eat. I tried to mention that objects in my ring were frozen in time, but I couldn't get a word out.   

But there was nothing wrong with a fresh, juicy sandwich, which is what we chose. And maybe an apple or two as an after-lunch snack.   

Momo handed me some dupla and asked me to pick up some tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and lettuce. She and Srassa would buy bread, cheese, and cucumbers.   

An awfully veggie-tastic sandwich, but it sounded delicious. I walked to a table selling vegetables and looked at the tomatoes. When it came down to it, taste didn't matter that much. Nor was it a concern if the tomato was rotten or full of insects because it wasn't like that would cause me any substantial harm. But I wanted to pick the freshest, ripest, juiciest ones. Even if I used my paltry 44 dupla, I could still only buy two or three, and I wouldn't have enough for the other ingredients on my list.   

“I know that look anywhere. Care to allow an old man to assist you, young lady?” I turned around and saw an aged gentleman wearing a butler’s outfit. It was similar, yet different from what Jony wore, but this man filled it out spectacularly. The man's long, grayish, white hair was combed back and wrapped into a neat ponytail. His face held a handful of wrinkles around his dark brown eyes. His beard and mustache were just as formal looking as the rest of him, and he stood with a pose almost so perfect that I instinctively knew he had combat training.   

In his arm, he held an empty basket. “Yes, if you don't mind. I don't know the first thing about picking vegetables.”  

“We all must learn someday,” he said, his voice slightly deep and masculine. He walked with a purpose– even if it was to help me pick out food. “When it comes to tomatoes, you need one that's shiny, with smooth, uniform skin. Avoid the ones that have hard spots or those that are discolored. The small ones should be firm but not hard. And the big ones should feel heavy for their size but not overly dense.”  

His words flowed easily to my ears, and I looked around the table. His advice was well-appreciated because I found just the perfect one. I paid for it and a small basket to hold my newly purchased produce, and I asked the nice man to help me pick out the onions, peppers, and lettuce.   

“Not at all. I myself am acquiring the ingredients for a vegetable stew. It would be my pleasure to help you into the world of cooking.”  

“I wouldn't call it that,” I replied, walking a few steps to the lettuce section. “My friends and I are making sandwiches to eat while we walk to a nearby village for a quest.”  

“Regardless of the preparation method, constructing a sandwich or roasting a ham are both different sides to the culinary world.”  

“You're really enthusiastic about it, aren't you?” I noted.   

He nodded. “Indeed. It is good for any person to have a hobby they enjoy.” With lettuce, the butler-looking gentleman said to look at the outer leaves. The best and crunchiest ones were those with dark green outer leaves. They had to be intact, and the ones that looked slimy or on the verge of turning dull yellow or brown were to be avoided.   

For the onions, the skin had to be dry and papery. Any other texture would work, but it wouldn't guarantee freshness. And there were different kinds of them, and they all complimented or enhanced different dishes, meaning they weren't grown the same.   

The green peppers needed to have a glossy sheen. The darker green it was, the fresher it would be since these peppers turned yellow, orange, and red the more they ripened.   

With a basketful of delicious veggies, I paid for the rest of my stuff and accompanied Albert, enjoying a pleasant conversation while he purchased the rest of his ingredients. It was calming to speak with him. He had a way with words, but I was most intrigued by his stern, precise, and practiced motions. Even the way he brushed away his coattail to reach a pouch of coins stored in a bag on his hips was military-like.   

“Servi, we’re finished. Did ya buy everything?”” I turned around to spot Momo and Srassa walking this way, their swords dangling from their hips.  

“Ah… You're…Mr. Crystalerik? Albert Crystalerik?” Srassa said, almost gasping.   

“Lady Srassa, I've heard from your mother that you intended to join the guild. Congratulations on achieving your dreams.” Albert's smile was genuine and grandfatherly. 

“Thank you, Mr. Crystalerik,” Srassa bowed her head slightly.   

“Hi, I'm Momo,” said the singi, extending her hand. Albert shook it, and I introduced myself while doing the same.   

“It's my pleasure to meet you two. Be safe on your quest. It wouldn't do my old heart good to see you get injured,” he said.   

“Thanks again for helping me. I appreciate it.”  

“You are more than welcome, young lady. Please, take care,” he replied, turning around after a nod of his head.   

After I told them about Albert helping me pick out the veggies, Srassa said he was the exclusive butler of Lord Parrel Biggins, the man who oversaw 1/4th of all of Lando. If he was the attendant to someone so powerful, why would he shop here and not in the noble district? Maybe it was more comforting? While Albert spoke like a man of high intelligence, he didn't strike me as someone who was brought up with all the pleasures and luxuries in life.   

I wonder if we'll meet him again if we shop here? Itarr asked. I wondered the same thing. And I kinda hoped we would. Talking to him was easy.  

“But awesome. We have everything we need, so why don't we get to walking? It's probably about noon-ish. Maybe a bit around 11? I reckon we'll be home at about 5 or 6. It's the summer season, so the days are longer. But it's also going to be hotter. I hope it isn't a scorcher,” said our captain. I gave her my ingredients to store in her bag, and we began our journey to a quaint little village.