Chapter 65

  One last drink most definitely hurt. As in, I didn’t get up nearly as early as I’d planned. And, on top of that… I had a hangover. Mixing sugar, plus liquor, was still a terrible idea, whether on Earth, or here in Mutopia. Had I already known that, yes. Had I learned from my last time? Not at all.

  Needless to say, I was bleary eyed, with a pounding headache, as I left my room. I walked slowly down the hallway, trying my best to be quiet, heart pounding in my chest. I had no doubt I’d blown my chance to sneak away without waking Aaron. And I knew, with this pounding reminder of last night’s poor life choice, today was going to be painful.

  “Listen,” I started as I pushed stepped into the lobby, already to give the cult member a piece of my mind. I froze as I noticed the slumped over, sleeping figure of Aaron. He was sitting at a table, his chair facing towards the hallway that was where my room was. His arms were crossed, and as he slept, he had such a serene look on his face, his brown hair falling over one eye… He was cute. Okay, more than cute. Too bad his personality awake completely ruined that. But, as he slept, lightly snoring against the wooden table, I couldn’t help but smile, my guard instantly dropping. He… wasn’t all that bad when he was quiet.

  “Good morning to you—” the inn keeper started cheerily, and I flinched immediately at his voice, shooting him a look that silenced him on the spot. Aaron muttered under his breath, shifting slightly, and for a moment, I worried the sleeping man would wake. After a few tense moments, while I held up a finger to the inn keeper, shushing him, Aaron remained sleeping.

  I walked slowly, quietly, towards the inn keeper, and glanced back towards Aaron. “How long has he been asleep?” I asked in a whisper.

  “About an hour,” the inn keeper whispered back. At least he could take the freaking hint.

  “Don’t wake him, and don’t tell him when I left.” I said, not really sure if he would follow my instructions. However, considering the reception Aaron had gotten yesterday, I had a feeling the people of Grasslands weren’t too fond of cultists. Meaning, hopefully, my request would be honored.

  He offered me a nod and a smile. “Safe travels,” he said.

  I returned the smile, and continued my quiet escape from the inn. If I had to guess, Aaron had spent the whole night waiting for me to come out of my room. He definitely figured, rightly so, that I had planned to sneak away early. Unfortunately for him, I’d drank too much and overslept. And he’d given in to his own fatigue.

  Huzzah poor life choices? I’d never been grateful for a hangover before, but, this unexpected win had me wondering if maybe, just maybe, it was worth it.

  The thought was immediately dismissed as I stepped outside and was greeted by the bright sun above. My hand immediately shot above my forehead, blocking out the offending light as I cursed under my breath, my head pounding like an entire freaking high school drumline was kicking off. For fucks sake.

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  I groaned, knowing I didn’t have time to waste, no matter how uncomfortable this freaking hangover was. Instead of looking up, I kept my eyes down, and summoned the map on my gauntlet. I zoomed it in enough to show the little dot that denoted my position, as well as the layout of Grasslands. It was pretty easy to navigate, and I already knew where I was going.

  The map had the option to set markers for destinations, and I’d done so for Glass City. Now, there was a tiny arrow pointing northwards on my map, directing me to the most efficient route for my destination. Once I left town, and got a little distance started between myself and Grasslands, I’d have to leave the main trail. Aaron would no doubt race after me once he realized I had, in fact, slipped away, and staying on the main path would make it too easy for him to track me.

  That meant I’d have to veer off path, but by how much? Thinking this hard made the pounding in my head intensify, and as I pushed my steps along, the alcohol doing its best to make me swear of drinking… a promise to myself that would likely only last for a day or two, I summoned a crystal that contained a bottle of water.

  Crisp, cool, perfectly refreshing water met my lips from a crystalline bottle, and the freshest tasting water ever danced across my tongue. It felt magical as the coolness washed a bit of the lingering morning breath and flavor of regret from my tongue, and soothed my stomach. Next time I stopped anywhere, I would have to investigate if there were things like antacids in this world. Or some other wonderous type of hangover cure. I’d bet good Muney Tamer’s Treat could chase away the hangover effects, but there were no Traveling Guys around to purchase a drink from… and it was a pretty pricey drink. Surely, there were cheaper options.

  All of these things were issues future Taylor would need to figure out. For now though, I had to deal with the consequences of my own actions, and also, figure out how to get the pesky cultists off my tail. I really, really, really didn’t want to have to deal with Aaron for the entire week and a half long trek through the desert to Glass City. Nor did I want to risk accidently losing my cool, and battling him. And he was bad enough. If Ember did somehow catch up to us, now that he’d let her know he’d found me… One cultist was a problem, two would be a catastrophe.

  I was here to have fun. I was here to level up my Muns, and my gauntlet. I just wanted to train, evolve them, and battle them in peace. The fact Aaron and Ember didn’t seem keen to let me do so, even after Sasha’s words, meant no doubt, for the foreseeable future, I’d have annoyances to deal with. Meaning, in short, the faster I got to Glass City, and the faster I leveled my Muns and got stronger, the better.

  After all, once I got strong enough, I’d no longer need to worry about those two. Once I was strong enough… if they caused me problems, I could just beat them in a Mun battle, and send their cultist selves back on a one way ticket to wherever they’d last been. But… until then, I really didn’t want to risk that very same fate befalling me.

  First world problems, sure… but also, like, who knew being a Tamer would be so complicated? Hell… if they kept it up, if they kept pushing me… well… I’d been known to act from spite before. And if Ember, especially, wanted to make my life hell… depending on the day, and whether or not I was hungover or hangry… I’d make her life hell right on back. But first… I really needed to get rid of my hangover, and hurry my happy little ass away from Grasslands.

  So, water in one hand, croissant in the other, and severely wishing for a pair of sunglasses as I squinted through the pain, I walked, swiftly, away from Grasslands, and Aarron, and made my way towards the Shifting Desert.

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  Progression fantasy with zombies, ninjas, demons, oh my?