Frostbitten Wayfarer

Zoe wandered around town through the night, watching the ever present battle between the people clearing snow and nature pouring more down to fill up the streets once more. According to the pair she talked to, Ash and Lila were the mages she was looking for. And they’d probably be sleeping at the moment.

So she continued wasting the time away, enjoying the spectacle of magic and power that were the human snow plows in this world. Perhaps one day it would be mundane to her, but even after a month of watching them it was still exciting every time she saw them. It was perhaps one of the biggest culture shocks to Zoe since coming to this world.

Sure, there was magical cleaning spells, and cool storage items. Buffs, and classes and stats to play with. But those were so far removed from her normal life that they didn’t feel unusual, they felt new. But big muscled women walking around with giant rocks, pulverizing the snow into nothingness through some kind of reality defying magic, instead of just plowing through it with a horse?

That was weird, and fantastical. It made her question so many other things, like what other normal, mundane tasks were solved through manual labour here? What did a field of grain look like? Did they have oxen pulling machinery through the fields, or did they just hire the biggest guy they found at a bar?

Zoe laughed to herself at the thought of a big burly man bulling a plow through a field, excited to get a new level from the day. It just felt so wrong, and yet somehow it seemed possible here.

The sun began to rise, and Zoe decided she’d check out a job board, see if there was anything good available at the moment. She went to a tavern near the eastern side of town and took a look at the offerings.

As usual there were many people looking for catering and security, or some muscle to help move furniture around. Zoe ignored them. Maybe with her uncapped skills she could end up being helpful at some point, but she doubted anybody would hire a level eight even if they seemed capable, and didn’t want to stand out too much anyway.

There was a job posted by Lorelei, looking for a level eight who was about to class up and was willing to test poison resistance. Zoe winced a little at the promised pay. A gold star. She thought for a moment about going and explaining her new feat to Lorelei just for a chance at the immense wealth, but decided against it.

Lorelei seemed nice enough, but five gold coins wasn’t all that much at the end of the day. Not enough to give up such a massive secret when she didn’t even know what the consequences of it would be. Maybe for a hundred, but for just five? That’s live the next few years in comfort money, not live the rest of her life in comfort money.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a problem, maybe Lorelei would be excited for the information and not share who told her. Or maybe it wouldn’t even matter if she did. But what if somebody decided Zoe was a threat for some reason? Probably not. But she didn’t have money problems. The odd jobs she did manage to find paid her enough to live a comfortable life already. It just wasn’t worth the risk. Not yet, not while she was still only level eight.

She looked at some of the other jobs posted. There were plenty requesting stocks of meat, and Zoe might have been tempted to take them a month ago. But somebody else could take those risks. Herb was an experienced hunter and even he was feeling like it was too much.

Nothing else stood out to her so she turned and left, waving to the bartender as she did. She had enough money anyway, but didn’t want to miss another big paying job like the poison testing one just because she didn’t feel like stopping by and checking when she had time.

Zoe wandered around a while longer, keeping an eye out for Ash and Lila. It was shortly after noon when she finally found them. Snow swirling around the one mage, vanishing as it touched them. The disintegration mage showed up as a darker blue to her identify.

They were the second person she’d seen at such a high level, and she wondered if maybe they were more common than she expected. Remembering to identify people was a difficult thing for her, but she was getting better at it. Maybe one day she’d even see the other red that Joe had talked about.

[Mage - ??]

[Mage - ??]

“Hey,” Zoe walked up to them.

“Oh it’s you again, hello.” The disintegration mage said. They were wearing a flowing, dark purple robe and had short blue hair. The other mage next to them — Lila, Zoe assumed, wore a similar robe but had long black hair resting on her shoulders.

“Yea, hi. I have a bit of a strange question. I’m trying to work on my resistances and I’m wondering if I could walk around with you and maybe get a disintegration resistance if that’s a thing?” Zoe asked, giving her best impression of a needy puppy.

The mage laughed, “That is a fantastic idea. I’m Ash,” they said holding their hand out and bowing slightly.

Zoe took their hand, her hand tingling as the disintegration magic began its slow drain on her health. Ash pulled her in to their side.

“Just let go if you need to.” Ash said. Lila chuckled next to them.

“Thanks. I’m Zoe, by the way.” Zoe said.

“So why are you still level eight, Zoe?” Ash asked.

“Ash!” Lila exclaimed.

“Pish posh, people are too uppity about that. Zoe wants resistances, I wanna know why she’s still level eight.”

“It’s fine,” Zoe said. “It’s a long story, but I just haven’t found the right class yet. Hoping some more resistances will help.”

Ash started walking forward, dragging Zoe along with them while Lila gathered the snow and whisked it into Ash’s aura. It felt whimsical, being this close to the spectacle. Snow whipped around her as it got pulled in to Ash, and Zoe’s head spun on her shoulders watching it all with her enhanced eyes. More snow was falling from the sky in a light dusting, and all of it got pulled into the whirlwind of snow that Zoe was in the centre of.

“Which ones do you have so far?” Ash asked.

“Mental, Poison, Pain, Heat and Fire so far. My goal is fifteen, but they’re a little hard to get usually.” Zoe said.

“Hah! A little hard to get, she says. You must have put all your points into vitality then, huh?” Ash asked.

“No, I just have twenty right now.” Zoe said.

“My god, are you some rich brat or do you just spend half your life waiting for your health to regenerate?” Ash asked.

“I’m kinda broke, really. It doesn’t really take that long to recover health anyway.” Zoe said.

“Well you’re certainly more patient than I am. And especially Ash, they could never do that. I’m Lila, by the way.” Lila said.

“Are you kidding? It’s a terrible idea to begin with. Even people who wait until their teens to pick a class barely ever catch up. Let alone this late and still working on it. You’re gonna die of old age before it ever pays off, you know?” Ash asked.

“I’ll figure something out, maybe. Maybe I’ll get an immortality class for having so many resistances.” Zoe said, smiling.

“Wouldn’t that be something, huh. Waste half your life away for a chance at getting it back. When do you think you’ll take your first class?” Ash asked.

“Probably next year, maybe the year after I guess. I want some more skills and resistances, plus some feats I’m working on, and then I think I’ll be ready.” Zoe answered.

“You know, if you’re still looking for resistances in the summer, we have some friends who might be interested in helping.” Lila said.

“Oh for sure, Eliza would have a field day with you.” Ash said.

“They can be a little rambunctious at times though.” Lila said.

“Well that’s the cost of doing business babe. She gets resistances, Eliza gets a new toy.” Ash shrugged.

“Don’t call her a toy, Ash. They don’t mean that. Eliza is just very inquisitive.” Lila explained.

“That would be great, actually. I don’t know if I could answer everything but I’ll take all the resistances I can get at this point, really.” Zoe said.

“It’s a date then!” Ash said, laughing. “Come down to our farm in the summer and we’ll torture you all you like.” They smiled.

Lila sighed, “We live not far east of town, just follow the road down a ways and you can’t miss it.”

“What do you farm?" Zoe asked.

“Ryz and brul, mostly. Though we do some vegetables when we can too.” Ash said.

“Oooh, I’ve always wanted to see a Ryz. They sound so strange looking.” Zoe said, a little excited.

“They’re adorable creatures, I love each and every one of them.” Lila smiled.

“She’d let them live in our house too if I didn’t stop her.” Ash said, smirking.

“They’re cute!” Lila exclaimed.

“Yeah they’re cute as hell, until they drop a fat turd on your living room floor.” Ash said.

“That only happened one time!” Lila pleaded.

“Because I stopped letting you bring them inside after that. Teach them to use the toilet and I’ll rethink it.” Ash said.

“You know they’re never going to use a toilet.” Lila said.

“And you know they’re never going to come inside again.” Ash laughed.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Disintegration Resistance

Zoe smiled as the notification interrupted her entertainment.

“Did you get it already?” Ash asked, noticing Zoe’s smile.

“Hmm? Oh, yes I did, thank you.” Zoe responded.

“Wow. I’d heard resistances were easier before your first class but that’s impressive. What’s your health at now anyway?” Ash asked.

Health: 153/200

“Uh, one fifty right now.” Zoe said.

Ash waved their hand around, Zoe’s hand still in it. “You wanna keep going or are we done with our little impromptu date?”

“I mean, I don’t. I could use some more levels, if you’re offering, I guess?” Zoe said.

Ash laughed, “And so the impromptu date carries on!”

Zoe blushed a little. She was never much a fan of people joking about dates. Did Ash really think of it as a date? That would be weird, since they’d barely known each other. But on the other hand, they kept bringing it up, which was also weird to her if they weren’t serious. So which weird was the right weird?

“I’m sorry for being strange, but is this a date?” Zoe asked.

Lila smacked Ash’s shoulder and Ash laughed, “It could be if you want. But no, I’m just flirting, I guess. It’s a bit of fun.”

“I thought the two of you were together?” Zoe asked them.

“We are. Ash is just a little free spirited, though it works out well for me too.” Lila said, smiling as she looked at Ash.

“Enough of that. More about you, Zoe. You mentioned something about feats?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, I’m trying for Winter’s Master right now. I think I’ll try and get all of the seasonal master feats while I’m at it. I know winter and summer exist but I’m not sure about spring and autumn.” Zoe answered.

“I’ve heard of those. I do think there’s a spring and autumn one too, but I’ve never gotten them myself.” Lila said.

“Really? Why not? I might be weird for doing it so early but I would have thought most people would get them considering how easy they are?" Zoe asked.

Ash laughed, “You’re a different breed, you know that? Life’s way too short to spend a year of it being uncomfortable just for a slightly better class. I mean, what, you’re gonna move snow around a little bit easier? Big whoop. I slept in a comfortable bed in a warm house last night.”

“That’s a good point. Very fair.” Zoe said.

“If you know a class you want that requires one then go for it, but I say just find another class, really. Feats aren’t worth the time they take. The good ones are way too much effort and the easy ones don’t do enough to be worth it.” Ash explained.

“Now that you mention it, what are some good feats?” Zoe asked.

“Well there’s the slayer series, for killing different elementals. They give good bonuses but good luck even finding an elemental, let alone killing one.” Lila said.

“Mhm, I’ve also heard of a few feats for embodying an element. Saw one guy who burned his entire body and got a Cindered feat out of it. Might get one for being disintegrated completely, but who knows how you get back after that one.” Ash said.

Zoe laughed, “Yeah I don’t think I’ll be getting either of those.”

“Probably not.” Ash said, the disintegration aura turning off and the tingle in Zoe’s hand fading away with it.

The snow whirling around them died down too, as Lila stopped whatever spell she was casting.

“Alright, that’s all for us today. We’ve gotta get back to the farm and make sure things are going alright.” Ash said.

“Okay, thanks for the help today.” Zoe said.

“No problem. What’d you get your resistance up to anyway?” Ash asked.

- Disintegration (2)

“Two,” Zoe answered, checking her health again.

Health: 127/200

“Damn, that’s pretty quick.”

“Yes, we do need to get going though. It was nice meeting you, Zoe. Don’t forget to stop by our farm in the summer, we’ll get a resistance party going for you.” Lila said.

“Yes! Do that. Or come by whenever. Our friends won’t be back until summer but come stop by for dinner sometime.” Ash smiled at her.

“I might take you up on that then. It was nice to meet you two too.” Zoe nodded her head.

“See you around then,” Ash said.

The two waved and Zoe watched them walk off down the street.

That went better than she expected. They were nice, and might be able to provide her with even more resistances in a few months. Zoe realized she should’ve asked more about that — what types of damage, did they maybe have somebody who could heal as well, or really just anything about it. But maybe it would be a nice surprise for her instead.