19 – A Much-Needed Rest

  When Andy woke up, he was in his bed, and he had no recollection of how he had gotten there. He blinked, bleary-eyed, at the sunlight streaming through the window, then threw his blanket off—he was down to his boxers and T-shirt—and sat on the edge of the bed. He scratched his head as he studied the long, pink scars on his thigh from where the giant toad had clawed him. “What a night…”

  He stood, stretched, then froze when he saw a bunch of his clothes folded neatly atop his narrow little second-hand dresser. He stepped closer, picked up a pair of jeans, and held them to his nose, taking a deep sniff. They were clean. “What the hell?” Andy suddenly felt even more confused about his circumstances. How long had he been sleeping?

  He changed into some clean boxers and pulled on the jeans, along with a clean—though not soap-scented—T-shirt. The difference fresh clothes made in how he felt made him appreciate the concept of civilization a hell of a lot more. He walked down the short, cramped hallway to his kitchenette, scanning the little living area to ensure he was alone. He was, but someone had left him a note on the counter along with a couple of objects that were out of place: a paper sack and a cloth-wrapped bundle tied with twine. Andy picked up the note and read it:

  Andy,

  I think your body needed more rest than you’ve been giving it! Bea stopped by to make sure you were okay, and she used her magic to clean some of your clothes, especially the blood-caked ones. There’s food in the sack, and I think the System gave you a reward for something. It was on the floor by the couch when I woke up.

  Come find me when you’re up and about,

  Lucy

  “Nice,” he muttered, pulling the sack closer and opening it. He found a sixteen-ounce energy drink, a bag of corn chips, a bunch of chopped-up carrot sticks wrapped in a paper towel, and another peanut butter and honey sandwich. It wasn’t exactly breakfast food, but he supposed he couldn’t be picky, especially when someone—Lucy?—had gone out of their way to bring it to him. He grabbed the sack and the cloth-wrapped package, which seemed to contain something small and flexible, and carried them over to the couch.

  As he ate with one hand, he untied the twine on the package and unwrapped it. The cloth wasn’t anything special, just a beige cotton square about the size of a large napkin. The object inside was anything but ordinary, however. It was a necklace comprised of a thin leather cord and half a dozen translucent green gemstones, cut into nearly perfect spheres. Alternated with each of the green stones were inch-long, yellowed teeth—sharp ones.

  Andy could feel the mana in the necklace, so he suspected it was magical, and when he noticed the little card printed with neat lettering, his suspicion was confirmed: Cord of the Croc – the wearer of this charmed necklace will have increased mobility and lung capacity while submerged in water.

  Andy huffed a soft laugh as he swallowed a bite of his sandwich. He’d gotten the reward for rescuing Jace from a giant toad while submerged in an underground river. It made sense that the prize fit the accomplishment. He polished off the sandwich, then held the necklace up, turning it this way and that. He liked it well enough; at least the teeth looked kind of cool, and the leather strap wasn’t anything gaudy. With a shrug, he put it around his neck and tied the two ends into a knot.

  Before he stood up, he took a look at his notable abilities, just to be sure he didn’t want to change anything else while he had a moment to himself:

  Improvement Points: 4

  Notable Skills or Spells:

  (* denotes active Bound abilities)

  Butcher’s Insight: 3

  Leadership: 2

  Tracking: 1

  Spears: 4

  Short Blades: 1

  Critical Mastery: 5

  Sneak Attack: 5

  Smokescribe: 1

  *Smoke Lance – Bound: 2

  *Unseen Stalker – Bound: 3

  *Smoke Sight – Bound: 3

  *Smoke Cloud – Bound: 1

  The thought occurred to him that he might be able to gain some “insight” into Spears by improving other weapon skills, but with only four points currently in his bank, he didn’t want to put any into Short Blades. He was level six in his new class and wanted to see what might be in store over the next few levels first. Before he stood, though, his eyes settled on Butcher’s Insight, and he wondered aloud, “If I push that to four…” His gaze drifted down to Critical Mastery and Sneak Attack.

  Before he second-guessed himself, Andy put another point into Butcher’s Insight… Or, he tried, but the System promptly sent him a new message:

  ***You have reached the current limit for mana-assisted advancement in the Butcher’s Insight ability. To progress further, seek practical experience—travel the world(s), observe the fauna that roam the realms, and draw inspiration from their forms. Alternatively, study under master butchers or consult their written accounts to deepen your knowledge.***

  “Huh. Only three?”

  With a final shrug, Andy stood, put on his belt and shoes, then gathered up his spear and walked outside. It was bright, and judging by the sun, almost noon. He could hear voices and activity all over the park as he walked toward Lucy’s trailer, which made him feel somehow comforted—likely because he knew kids wouldn’t be laughing and he wouldn’t smell cooking meat if monsters had overrun the mesa. Lucy didn’t answer the door, so he turned and walked up the path leading into the center of the park.

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  His first concern upon finding he’d slept away more than half the day was finding out what had happened down in the tunnels while he’d been out of it. There were still hostile monsters down there; he and the others still had a quest to find the source of the rat infestation, and Bea had some “corrupted water” to find—or had she? He couldn’t remember asking her about the lake, but something told him that wasn’t it; the water had seemed fine to him.

  When he reached the new platform and the ladder leading down into the plateau, he saw three people sitting on lawn chairs near the opening. He recognized Eduardo right away, but it took him a minute to realize the other two were Bree, the woman with the owl they’d rescued from the harpies, and Lydia, the leader of Grace Refuge. Andy would have thought they’d be gone already. As he approached, Bree saw him coming and waved enthusiastically.

  “Here’s my hero!”

  Eduardo looked over and stood up. “Andy! Glad to see you up and about! Some of us were worried.”

  Andy tilted his head to the side, squinting in the bright light as he looked from Bree to Eduardo to Lydia, who smiled as their eyes met. “Worried? Why?”

  Eduardo laughed, shrugging. “Well, I guess I’m just used to you always being up and in the mix! Bea told us you were fine, though—said your body finally told you it had had enough.”

  “Yeah.” Andy chuckled, shrugging sheepishly. “I don’t usually sleep this late.”

  Bree laughed, looking at Lydia. “He doesn’t know.”

  “Know what?” Andy asked as he reached the wooden platform and put a foot on the edge, leaning on his spear.

  “Um, buddy,” Eduardo replied, “you slept a day and a half.”

  Andy’s eyes widened as his breath caught in his throat. “What?”

  “Yeah,” Lydia confirmed. “You slept all day and night”—she looked up at the sky—“and a good part of another day.”

  Andy didn’t know how to feel about the news. The last time he’d lost a day to sleep was when he’d caught a bad case of the flu a few years back. Even when he was hungover, he usually didn’t sleep more than ten hours or so. “Huh,” he muttered, “guess I was really worn down.” He shifted his gaze to Lydia. “What did I miss? I see you’re still here.”

  She nodded. “That healer lady—”

  “Bea,” Eduardo filled in.

  “Right. She wanted Bree here to rest yesterday, and, well, everyone else, me included, wanted to hang around for another day or two. I’ve been working with James, helping him build a forge, and he’s already picked up the Smith class, which is what I had before I got Forgemaster. Um, nobody’s gone any deeper in these tunnels, but me and the other folks from the Refuge are pitching in to stand guard to make sure nothing gets into the areas you already cleared out.” She looked at Eduardo. “What else?”

  He nodded, cleared his throat, and said, “Bella and Omar, and a few others, went to take a peek at that dungeon Lydia told us about. Everyone figured it would be smart to at least get eyes on it to make sure nothing bad is brewing with the leftovers from the old Hardhead army—”

  “Pricks,” Bree hissed through a clenched jaw. Andy raised an eyebrow, and she shook her head. “Sorry, but you gotta know I did not like working with them. I didn’t know—” She shook her head, looking down and to the side as her eyes filled with moisture. “They lied to us about you all. When I came here with that raiding party—first of all, they made me; they needed Cheechee’s eyes. Anyway, Brooks and Rhodes told everyone that you all were murderers and…worse.”

  “Which has been made clear isn’t the case,” Lydia interjected.

  “Right,” Bree nodded rapidly. “Anyway, I ditched them! I was hiding out in the desert by myself with Cheechee when that damn harpy grabbed me!”

  Andy waved a hand, trying to offer a reassuring smile. “Relax. I get it.” He looked at Eduardo. “What about Bella and them? How long have they been gone?”

  “Just a few hours. They went this morning. We spent yesterday building a door in the tunnel by the waterfall and installing some lantern hooks and whatnot. Bea seemed excited about that big cavern—said it would be a good place to shelter.” He suddenly held up a finger, eyes going wide. “Oh! I’ve got more to tell you!”

  Andy shrugged. “I’m listening.”

  “Right! Well…” He looked at Lydia and asked, “Maybe you could tell him? I mean, it was your idea—”

  “It wasn’t any kind of idea, really, and nothing you all wouldn’t have figured out.” She turned from Eduardo to Andy, lifting her left foot to cross it over her knee. “It’s just I explained that, over at the Refuge, we’ve been trying to push everyone into gaining at least one secondary class that has to do with some kind of building or crafting. Of course, you all had already figured out some of those classes, like James being a Tinker and that long-haired guy who’s the, uh, Frontier Steward.”

  “Right!” Eduardo interjected. “And when we started doing stuff around here after the battle—moving trailers, cleaning up the burn sites, routing new pipes for the water—people started getting other classes. That girl, Madi, got a Gatherer class when she collected some berries outside the fence!”

  “The point is,” Lydia said, taking over again, “I think everyone should try to have a class that doesn’t involve fighting. If nothing else, you’ll gain some passive abilities and get a few Improvement Points.”

  Andy nodded. “You know, I was thinking about my ‘unclassed’ class.” He shook his head at the strange phrasing. “Heh. Anyway, I was wondering if that would be worth leveling, too—for Improvement Points.”

  “You could,” Lydia replied, as though she had experience with the matter, “but you’ll need to do it through fighting. Craft or, I dunno, profession classes gain experience from doing useful stuff.”

  “Like forging weapons?” Andy asked, arching an eyebrow.

  She nodded. “Sure. Or nails or horseshoes.”

  “Or frying pans,” Eduardo added.

  Andy stopped leaning on his spear, standing up to stretch his back a little. “I think that’s awesome, and I agree, we should all do something like that. It’ll help with the settlement improvements.” He looked around, noting the groups of kids wandering around, the various adults moving with purpose, and wondered what he ought to do with himself. “Where’s Lucy?”

  “Oh, she went with Bella and Omar,” Eduardo replied.

  Andy turned his gaze in the gate’s direction, suddenly feeling very left out. “They went to the dungeon, huh?”

  “I don’t think they’re going to go in,” Lydia said. When she saw Andy’s expression, she snorted a soft laugh. “Relax, killer. You don’t have to be involved in everything. They took like ten people, just in case some of the assholes were hanging around over there.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. No sense trying to catch up now. They could be on their way back for all I know.” Andy called up his status sheet and peered at the list of notable abilities, then he said, “I wonder if I can learn a, uh, profession that has something to do with enchanting—you know, making things magical. I have this Smokescribe ability…” He trailed off, but Lydia and the others were looking at him with interest. So he shrugged and added, “I’ve got a few Improvement Points banked. Maybe I should try it. Anyone got an old knife or something?”