Once upon a time, back before Road to Purgatory, when video gaming involved a computer or a dedicated console, escort quests in role-playing games had been widely considered to be the worst of all types of quests, as far too often, the success or failure of such quests was utterly dependant on an oftentimes wonky artificial intelligence. The non-player character you were supposed to escort might glitch out and float off into the sky, run off a cliff or get stuck because some sort of waypoint couldn’t be triggered, leaving you stuck with few ways to solve the situation other than trying again. This could be quite frustrating, especially if the situation repeated itself a few times, as you were forced to try over and over again to figure out where the problem was caused and how it might be avoidable. Back then, I had utterly despised those quests, viewed them as a waste of time and avoided them whenever possible.
And yet, now, with the four people I was supposed to escort down the mountain and back to the farm they called home, I somehow yearned for that type of quest. At least the non-player characters rarely complained, or, if they did, there was some sort of trigger, and I could turn down the volume if necessary. With these four, I couldn’t easily turn down the volume; their complaining was incessant and, maybe worst of all, they were just as stupid as the non-player characters of old. Maybe even dumber, it was hard to tell which of their troubles were caused by general ineptitude and which were caused by exhaustion. But regardless of the cause of their troubles, the complaints never stopped, as these four fools kept slipping and occasionally sliding in the mud; they kept groaning, moaning and complaining all the time.
A part of me wondered if they were doing it just because they could because they were confident I would protect them if something seriously troublesome happened, so they didn’t feel a need to be cautious and vigilant. Or maybe they were confident that no predator worth worrying about would venture out of their cave or burrow willingly with the incredibly bad weather we were suffering under. Granted, that idea might even be somewhat plausible. If I were some sort of wolf or bear, I wouldn’t want to trek through the forest right now, either, especially with the constant danger of landslides or falling branches. Well, even without being a wolf or bear, I wasn’t all that happy to be out in the pouring rain, but given that the original location was under threat of getting caught in a landslide, this was the better option, no matter how unpleasant.
Now, if we came across a suitable location to hunker down for a few hours, I would be seriously tempted, but given the dearth of nicely dry places up here, that didn’t seem to be an option. And so, we continued to make our trek alongside the mountain, making sure we didn’t need to completely descend into the valley where the small creek usually flowing there had turned into a fairly serious river, complete with standing waves, the occasional log floating by and enough mud to build a few houses- or destroy an equal number of them, if they happened to get in the way of the rushing water. No, the valley was closed to us unless we wanted to commit suicide or murder. And as tempting as that might be, I wasn’t willing to throw the quest away for the brief pleasure of throwing the complaining fools into the water and watching as the river washed away their sins- alongside their lives.
Luckily, despite my annoyance at their behaviour, these four were not completely incompetent. While they were bitching up a storm about everything and had some trouble keeping their footing thanks to the slippery mud, they managed to make fairly good time. To make matters even better, we didn’t encounter any dangerous wildlife, it seemed as if the local beasts were just as annoyed at the weather as I was, so we made overall fairly good time.
Thus, we managed to get into the area above their farm sometime in the late afternoon, some four, maybe five hours after we set out at the shelter they had originally used. During that time, the weather took a surprising turn for the even worse, adding the occasional lightning and some hail to the mix. While I hadn’t believed the situation could become more uncomfortable, the weather sadly proved me wrong and a part of me remembered Ling, one of my first students with her affinity to Weather Magic.
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It made me wonder just how strong said student was now, would she be able to nudge the weather system giving us this wonderful storm a little or could she replicate its effects on a small scale? What did her affinity mean for the development of her magical abilities and how far had she pushed them?
Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to find out. As far as I was aware, Ling was back at Apple Gate Farm, or maybe she had decided to look for greener pastures. Something else might have driven her from the farm, or she might have died. All were valid possibilities, but as things were right now, I wasn’t in a position to find out, as curious as I was. Maybe I could try scrying on her through the Astral River but for that, I’d have to set up a somewhat permanent base with multiple dedicated runic circles and a prepared throne to anchor myself while my mind was busy exploring the Astral River.
Something I might want to consider setting up anyway if only to see how far the deeper layers of the Astral River have calmed down over the last few months. Maybe doing so would allow me to get a better idea of what our ultimate destination looked like beyond the fact that it would be a freezingly cold place, possibly with some link to Darkness. Otherwise, I might have to slowly twist the Nexus a little, adding a slight amount of Darkness to the streams so I could be completely comfortable. However, that would be a task to accomplish over decades, likely taking a lot longer than I had lived thus far, so it wasn’t a short-term goal, but at least in the category of medium-term, depending on how long my lifespan would actually turn out to be.
However, those were concerns for another day. For now, getting the four fools to the farm was more important. Luckily, it looked like there were no stoppages further down the valley and with the amount of water running through the area, it was draining roughly at the same speed as it was flooding in from deeper in the mountains, meaning there was an equilibrium, though not a terribly comfortable one. The dykes I had created earlier were still holding strong, but even my magical construction wasn’t immune to the ravages of time or even to the mundane forces that tons of water and the dirt it carried brought to bear.
“That’s insane,” Ned muttered, staring at the area that, just yesterday, had been perfectly dry land, with a docile creek running nearby. Now, it was a frothing mess of water and mud, uncomfortable to even look at, something I especially noticed when their eyes started to wander from the dry area protected by the dyke I had set up and the waters around it.
“Nature is quite powerful, you know?” I asked, just barely keeping my voice under control. It wouldn’t do to show these people that nature was awing me, too, and I certainly couldn’t allow them to see my… not fear but concern. I certainly wasn’t afraid.
Getting to the farm itself posed to be a bit of a challenge, to the point that I ultimately decided carrying them across the frothing water was the easiest solution. Thankfully, my cloak was up to the task, as I wasn’t sure I would be able to use my wings to fly stably in the messy weather while carrying an adult.
Amusingly, the weight wouldn’t be the problem; my attributes were high enough for that, but shifting my centre of gravity would undoubtedly mess with my ability to keep things stable. And in these conditions, anything that messed with my ability to keep things stable was an invitation to take a dip in the wonderful, churning mess of water and mud.
One by one, I carried them across and with each person, more and more spectators showed themself, watching as I was working. Finally, when the last guy, Ned, was set down, I could relax, allowing the annoyance and exhaustion to wash away as I felt the influx of EXP for completing the quest, granting me a level-up. Now, I was level one hundred and fifteen, and with that, I received additional stats and a few traits. But I would take a look at those later. First, I needed to rest.
