Frostbitten Wayfarer

Zoe sat up and checked her stat window. She got two more levels from the past few days and dumped all of her stat points into Endurance to bring it up to forty-five. The level thirty-six armoured zombie would have been seven levels higher than her then.

Was that too much of a gap to overcome with class quality and feats alone? What did levels even mean when push came to shove. Zoe was level twenty-nine now, did that mean she was equal to anybody else at level twenty-nine? She’d invested so much more time and gotten so many extra benefits that somebody else wouldn’t have. What level would she be comparable to if she had lived a normal life?

And for that matter, what use was Identify anyway? If somebody was level fifty but had hundreds of feats they wouldn’t even be remotely comparable to somebody at level fifty without a single feat. Level alone might be a good enough measurement at the earlier levels, if you ignored outliers like Zoe. But it would drop off quite quick as it became more common for people to have feats and extra skills that made them each unique.

Or, in the case of the dungeon, as it started creating stronger zombies with more equipment. Based on her fight with some of the simpler stick wielding zombies, she didn’t expect to have much trouble with one even if it were in the mid forties. But the armoured zombie summoning a horde threw a wrench into her plans even just at thirty-six.

If she were just trying to climb the mountain as quick as she could, then she thought that taking it out from afar wouldn’t have been much issue. As long as it didn’t see her and couldn’t dodge her projectiles, she could land an explosion anywhere she’d wanted. She could take out its legs and pepper its face until it was done.

But that didn’t show her what she could do in a pinch. It wasn’t just about killing hordes of zombies and levelling up, it was about showing that she could handle herself even in a worst case scenario. The last thing she wanted was to be knocked out by a surprise attack because she’d built herself as a glass cannon.

And it didn’t work, but that was okay. Not everything had to be a success every time.

Zoe got up and left the inn to wander around town. She wanted to find somebody who could help her price one of the shops. Her first guess was to just wander into one that recently changed and ask the owner.

There was a general store near the inn that was an alchemy store before Zoe started her last ascent, and she walked in. Tables were set up throughout the store and covered in various wares. Spices, ropes, the odd potion and plenty of clothes filled most of them.

An older woman was at one of the tables folding some of the clothes that had gotten messed up from a previous customer. She looked up at Zoe and smiled.

“Hello! How can I help you today?” The woman asked.

“Oh hi. How long are you gonna be in town for?” Zoe asked.

The woman rolled her eyes around in thought for a moment. “Probably about three weeks before I need to head back. Are you looking to buy the shop from me then?”

“Maybe, I guess. I have no idea what the shops usually cost and I want to maybe open a clinic at some point.” Zoe answered.

“I see. Well, I’ll be happy to sell it to you for a gold square.” The woman smiled.

Zoe paused in shock for a moment before she replied. “Okay, thanks. I’m gonna look around a bit then but I might be back.”

“Okay, you have a nice day then.” The woman smiled as she watched Zoe leave.

Zoe had no idea if that was a fair price or not. Fifty gold was a lot of money to her, more than she’d made in her entire time in this world. As much as Emma put down as a down payment on her house. But if the business was going to be changing hands so often and somebody else would buy it, then it was more of a deposit than anything else. When she was done, she’d sell it to the next person and get the money back.

Which meant very little for whether the price was fair or not. She could get her money back if she found somebody else willing to pay fifty gold for it, but if the lady just wanted to turn a profit on her investment then it made sense that she’d try and overcharge for it while she still had weeks to find a future buyer, too.

Zoe walked across Gafoda and stopped in at one of the alchemy shops that had been around for a few weeks. It had a similar layout, an open room with a few tables set up throughout. The main difference was that rather than an assortment of products, most of what Zoe saw were potions and some alchemy supplies. Plenty of empty vials, mortar and pestles, and even a few of what looked like salad spinners.

There was a younger man sitting on a chair reading a book near the back. Zoe walked up to him and he raised his head.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hi,” Zoe said.

“Can I help you? Need some potions?” He asked.

“No, I’m fine on that. How long are you gonna be in town for?” Zoe asked.

“I’m leaving in a few days. You interested in buying?” He asked.

Zoe nodded her head. “Yeah, how much?"

“Twenty gold.” He said.

“Okay, I might be back then. Thank you.” Zoe said and started walking out.

“Fifteen, final offer.” He called out.

Zoe waved and left. She had no intention of buying a shop yet, not when she was about to leave Gafoda and had no idea when she’d be back. Fifteen gold was a price she’d be willing to pay if she came back, though. If she got lucky and showed up on the last day and nobody had bought the business, she might even be able to get a better price.

She had almost seventeen gold bouncing around in her bracelet from what was left over from Flester plus the generous donations people gave her for helping them in Moaning Point. None had been quite so generous as Obai was, most gave a handful of silver. A couple people gave a single gold coin. But Zoe wasn’t complaining.

Making money was never the point of helping people anyway. It was a nice benefit that she appreciated, but not helping them out when she had the ability to was something she just couldn’t bring herself to do.

With everything she had left to do in Gafoda checked off, Zoe start making her way down the road towards Flester. She summoned her Frost Arsenal around her and pumped up her Aura of Frost as high as it would go and then took off. This time she tried to focus more on her enchantments as she ran than just on pulling ice behind her.

While she ran, Zoe created projectile after projectile and enchanted them with Archery and Restoration. When the enchantments wore off she dropped them and created more. Every few hours she’d stop and eat one of her lio wraps before she continued on towards Flester.

On the third day of running, she saw a small group of people a ways off through the trees that radiated greed, anger and an underlying sense of uneasiness. Zoe’s heart raced when she saw them and she wasn’t sure what the right option was. Were they bandits, looking to prey on the wealthy merchants? A family out camping in the forest?

Should Zoe turn around and go back to Gafoda, wait to join a guarded caravan? Would turning around at this point make them think she was going to report them and make them attack her? They didn’t make any movements towards her when they noticed her, they didn’t seem to be getting ready to jump her.

Zoe’s heart raced as she continued running, and it didn’t slow until a few hours later when Zoe pulled out her lio wrap. Rather than stopping, she slowed a little and ate it as she ran.

The remaining days passed without incident, and Zoe made it back to Flester on the sixth day. A little slower than when she had two alacrity skills, but all the levels to Time Affinity and the one Alacrity she had seemed to make up most of the difference at least, which she appreciated.

Her first stop was to Joe’s inn, as it was pretty close to the southern gate that Zoe arrived at. She walked up to the familiar door and smiled as she opened it. The inside looked just as she remembered, with patrons sitting at the tables and Joe wiping down some of the glasses behind the bar. Zoe noticed a few gray hairs peppered throughout his brown beard and grimaced.

He looked over when Zoe entered and his face lit up with a bright grin.

“Hey Zoe!” He called out.

“Hey Joe,” Zoe smiled back.

“Come come, sit. How was Moaning Point?” He gestured to one of the bar stools.

Zoe walked up and sat down. “It was different than I expected, honestly.”

“Yeah? How so?” Joe asked.

“I dunno, I thought it would be this cool thing to explore, but it’s so organized and planned. It felt really weird, to be honest. I had a lot of fun, for the most part. But its really not what I expected.” Zoe said.

“Mhm. It’s one of those lodestone dungeons, right?" Joe asked.

Zoe nodded.

“Maybe those aren’t for you, then. Not enough danger for the battle maniac.” Joe laughed.

“It’s not the danger that I want. Moaning Point was really safe, honestly. And I liked that. I guess its just that I’ve already read about it in so many books and exploring it is like, I dunno. A theme park ride? You wouldn’t know what that is, I guess.”

Zoe sighed. “Like I expected to explore and discover new things but it was just levelling and grinding for the sake of doing it.”

Joe smiled. “Well, you can always try somewhere else. Go explore other cities and towns, wander the forests. Find your own adventure.”

“Maybe. That sounds nice, honestly. I like Flester, and I even like Gafoda to be honest. But the dungeon itself was so boring. Maybe its better higher up, I couldn’t even get past the second stage. You know they have signs laid out at each difficulty spike, Joe? It’s ridiculous. No organization, they say. I’ve never seen something better organized.” Zoe shook her head.

“How long are you in town for then Zoe?” Joe asked.

“I dunno. I’ve got a lot I wanna get done here so probably a while, if I’m being honest. I forgot salt, Joe. Salt! Can you believe that?” Zoe laughed.

Joe smiled. “Yeah, I sure can. That sounds like you.”

“Where’d you grow up, anyway Joe? You always live in Flester?" Zoe asked.

Joe nodded his head. “Never left. Not for long anyway, been camping a few times.”

“You like camping?” Zoe asked.

Joe shrugged. “Can take it or leave it, really. It’s nice to get out and be a part of nature sometimes, but I like it here in my inn too.”

Zoe nodded her head. “I get that. Safety and routine is nice sometimes. I like trying new things though personally.”

“You don’t say,” Joe smiled smugly.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “How do you feel about immortality?"

“I got nothing against them, personally.” Joe answered.

“No, I mean for you. I talked about it with Emma once and she said she’d wanna be immortal, probably. What about you? Would you do it if you could?" Zoe asked.

Joe shook his head. “Eternity’s too long for me. I like my life here, and I’d like to go out peacefully when my time comes, I think.”

“Mhm.” Zoe sighed.

“Sorry, Zoe.” Joe said.

“No, it’s fine. I’ve just been thinking about it a bit lately is all.” Zoe smiled.

“Yeah?” Joe pressed.

Zoe nodded. “I’ve thought about it a few times, really. It comes up whenever my mind wanders too much. Just what it means, y’know? What I should do with all my time.”

Joe walked back into the kitchen and gestured for Zoe to follow. Zoe stood up and followed.

“Afraid?" Joe asked.

“I guess, maybe. I’m not going to die, and you are, y’know? And I don’t know what to do about that.” Zoe said.

“Live your life, anybody could die at any moment anyway. No point in worrying about it too much.” Joe said.

“I know. That’s what I always tell myself, too. But how close can I get to people? How many people am I going to meet and lose throughout my life? How can I handle all that pressure?”

Joe shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you, Zoe. It’s not always gonna be easy, but you can’t worry about my lifespan. That’s not your job, it’s mine. I care about you, I value your friendship. And as much as you worry about my mere mortal life being cut short I worry about your immortal life being cut short by bandits on the road or from climbing a dangerous dungeon.

“You can’t worry about it too much, Zoe. You can’t let it consume you like that. You gotta just live your life and have a good time while you’re here. If you worry about everybody around you dying, you’re never going to have a good time. Enjoy the friendships you have while you have them.” Joe said.

Zoe nodded. “I didn’t think about it like that. I guess it is kinda the same thing though, huh?”

“Probably. I mean I don’t know what being immortal is like. But if you’re worried about me or Emma dying, then know that we both worry about you dying while you’re off exploring the world too. We can’t just ignore the relationships we have because there’s an end. It’s because there’s an end that we should value and appreciate them while we have them.” Joe said.

“Thanks Joe. Talking to you always helps.”

“You good then?” Joe asked.

Zoe nodded. “I think so. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Joe smiled.