Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (46 page)

First
would be the High Priestess of Selena up the outcropping. That walk
would take forever. I started trudging my way up the virtual, in both
senses, mountain. It took almost an hour of staggering and frequent
pit stops before this old body made it up the hill to Selena’s
column littered temple.

Recently
I discovered William Carver had a number of titles.
[Dragon
Slayer]
,
[Guide]
, ones for other monsters killed, bounty
hunting, or top tier skills. There was one out of place title marked
as ‘new’ with bright fancy letters. This one said
[Messenger]
but it had no information. I had a feeling it was
tied to William Carver’s warning of the Travelers impending
arrival.

Being
able to separate my own information from William Carver's seemed
impossible at this point. Hopefully, these things would become more
obvious soon. Considering the detrimental traits with Carver’s
body it was a wonder he accomplished anything. These problems offset
his abilities. Otherwise, Carver could run out of town, slay all the
monsters in the area, and make it back before dinner. That was the
difference between his gathered abilities and statistics versus other
new players.

Skills,
on the other hand, once I unlocked this latest bonus, were the key. I
couldn’t lose a rank if I wanted this plan to succeed. Telling
off Selena’s statue was not to be considered. Glaring at her
fuzzy marble form in the distance didn’t lose me any points in
progress.

“
Ehhh.”

“
William.
This is unusual of you.” The plump High Priestess sounded sweet
with a note of caution.

“
Yes.
Yes, I’m sure it is. We should sit.” I lifted the cane
and pointed towards the same ledge view we had shared a week ago.

I
couldn’t make out her face from this angle. Carver's vision was
a bit more blurry than normal right now. Most of my hour journey had
been spent trying to find the landmarks and checking my map.

“
If
you desire so, William, we can sit.”

“
Good.
Good.” Slowly nodding I debated which of my two options would
be best used. Method one included the blunt telling of who I was and
what I was doing here. Method two involved vague questions to avoid
losing my progress points.

My
little friend the
[Messenger's Pet]
poked his head out my hood
and looked around. Moments later, while my old silent self was
debating what to choose, the tiny dragon leapt off the cliff and
soared away.

High
Priestess Peach, her name according to the
[Identification]
window, sighed. For once it didn’t seem sweet or pleasant. It
seemed sad, extremely sad. That was an opener and made me toss the
roundabout questioning process out the window. Besides, WWCD implied
that being vague and coy was the wrong route to go.

“
You
were the first to ask me about him.” I shook the cane in the
distance towards where the tiny dragon had leapt off. “Why?”

“
Because
if that” Priestess Peach managed to sound twisted with sadness
“is a Messenger Pet, it means you’ll be dead soon.”

Old
Man Carver's
[Truth Sense: Verbal specialist]
didn’t
show any falsehoods. Plus she answered without any sort of
hesitation. So much for being suspicious. I nodded slowly, once again
asking myself, WWCD?

“
And
if it were true?” He would ask questions. Old Man Carver didn't
provide others information until he got something out of them.

“
Then
it’d be a sad day for all of us.”

“
Ehh.”
The groan escaped me.

“
Hips
again?” She asked.

“
And
everything else,” I admitted. “Rest easy, Peach, I’ve
no intention of dying.”

“
Only
the Voices can know, William. If they sent the
[Messenger's
Pet]
to
you, then your time is set. Soon you’ll be gone.”

“
Then
I’ll go out the same way I lived.”

“
Oh?”

“
An
adventurer. I’ll do my best to go out like an adventurer.”
Carver had never considered himself a hero. Not once did he use that
word in his journals. His actions certainly fit the ideal version of
one, though. Slaying monsters for the greater good of all common
folks was a tried and true method for becoming great.

“
Is
that why there’s a flier in town?”

Standing
up was difficult with this old frame. Priestess Peach had her answer
so I took the Carver way out of things and didn’t give any
additional information. The advertisement had my name signed across
its bottom.

“
William?”

I
gestured a goodbye with the cane and slowly made my way out of the
temple. My conversation hadn’t awarded me any solid progress
points. Giving Selena’s statue a parting innuendo wasn’t
worth the loss. Soon I was too far away to hear her questioning tone.

Onward,
towards my next target! Maybe I would get there before sundown. I
ambled past Peg’s training hall. She was busy yelling at the
latest person to try her brand of torture. Further on my route was
the Bakery. Pie Master and Ladette were both there and waved. A third
person was busy sweeping up the shops. My first Traveler, the girl
who wanted to learn cooking, was still in town. She smiled, I grunted
with a cane lifting salute and got my batch of cookies.

I
ordered an extra dozen as part of my peace offering. Chances were
they would come in handy after my conversation with Mylia. If not,
then perhaps Phil would take my money making bribe. As an old man, I
stumbled across one fantastic idea that a newbie town should have put
in a long time ago.

While
resting, I studied the map. During one stop, a player came up and
asked me for guidance. I glared and gave him a mindless task, this
time to earn Peg’s approval. The player didn’t know, but
Peg would be able to give him a quest related to his goals if he did
well.

Almost
two hours had passed by the time I got to Mylia’s orphanage.
The sun wasn’t down so no points were lost. Hopefully, this
behavior wasn’t too far out of the norm for Carver. Teetering
on the edge of this percentage bonus was mildly nerve wracking.

“
Geezer!
What are you doing here?” Phil shouted at me far before I made
it to the door.

“
Bringing
a peace offering. Help out or get nothing.”

“
More
cookies?” Phil was extra hushed as he drew closer. Like we were
discussing a conspiracy. “What do I need to do for some
extras?”

“
Help
me smooth things over with Mylia.” I leaned in and pretended to
conspire with the youth. Phil put out a hand and gestured towards the
bag.

“
Cookie
first.” Smart boy, he wasn’t giving anything away for
free either.

“
We
have a deal then?” And Carver wouldn’t hand over anything
first. Not without some sort of exchange.

“
Sure
thing, geezer, you know us orphans don’t renege on our deals.”
He was practically glowing in anticipation. “Deal's a deal's a
deal.”

[Truth
Sense: Verbal specialist]
didn’t trigger. I forked over a
cookie slowly. Luckily the
[Messenger's Pet]
hadn’t come
back or there would be some cookies missing already.

“
So?”
I asked.

“
Hah!
You don’t smooth things over with her, once you’re on her
list, you’re on it forever!” Phil said.

“
Am
I?” Here was my next outright test of Carver’s abilities.
I gave Phil the best level stare this body could muster while hoping
those were his eyes and not smudged cheeks. Blurry vision was a
curse.

“
On
her list?” The youngster asked.

“
Yes,
yes. Come on, boy, you know darn well what I’m asking.” I
tried to sound grumpy and it came out exhausted.

“
Sure
do. And no, I don’t think you’re on her list, yet. Maybe.
She’s been upset, though. Easier to make mad. The littles have
been running scared when she comes in.”

I
frowned. That wasn’t a good sign. Phil watched everything like
a hawk. His
[Identification]
results lead me to believe that
he knew what was going on between Mylia and me. The boy had a few
traits of his own that all pointed towards a grifter watching for his
mark.

“
What’s
going on out there, Phil? Who's here?” Mylia was practically
shouting from inside the house. If she hadn’t been so loud, I
probably wouldn’t have been able to understand her.

“
Got
to go! Bye, geezer!” Phil snatched another cookie and ran off.

“
Ehhh.”
The door slammed open in a rush as Mylia tried to catch us
conspiring.

“
Mister
Carver. What are you doing skulking about out there?”

“
I’m
not sure.”

“
Maybe
you finally lost your mind.” Judging by her tone I was
certainly not in a good place with Mylia.

“
Oh
no worries, Mylia. I lost it a long time ago.” Mylia looked
down at the bag I was still holding awkwardly with one hand. The cane
was barely offsetting its weight.

“
More
treats? Those may work on the kids, but not on me, Mister Carver.”

“
Miss
Jacobs, if I knew what worked on you, I would have tried it a long
time ago.” Which would have solved this whole side quest from
the get-go.

She
actually smiled a little even though my progress bar showed a
negative response. It must have been part of a percent because I
managed to stay above seventy-five. Some of my progress points went
like that, with a flash of red and green arrows but overall unchanged
numbers.

“
You
can keep right on trying, Mister Carver. Maybe one day you’ll
crack it.”

“
I
don’t have long left to figure it out, Mylia Jacobs.”
Combining Priestess Peach’s information with Mylia’s
earlier concern painted an obvious picture. A
[Messenger's
Pet]
somehow
heralded death.

She
stood in the doorway looking flustered. Up close it was easy to see
how thin she looked. More so than she had in the days prior, Mylia
seemed to be wasting away. Was she sick with something?

“
So
it’s true then?” She asked.

“
About
the
[Messenger's
Pet]
?”
Standing here holding a bag of cookies was getting harder. My stamina
bar was dropping slowly.

“
Yes.”