* * *
Joe took off after the boy with a sense of satisfaction overwheld with eager expectation. They headed out of town out the west side this ti, moving up the lakeside. After about five minutes, they escaped the village edge and ten minutes of walking had them following the road as it turned north following the western edge of the lake. About a half an hour later, they ca upon what might have been a shrine, if a drunken cottage leaning next to a small stone pillar overrun with vines, weeds, and detritus could be considered one.
The boy led him to the nigh collapsing cottage to the side and Joe grinned with excitent. Definitely a priest, right? He walked up the small porch at the entrance of the cottage and knocked politely at the door, but Garnedell instead pounded on the cottage door and yelled out a loud phrase. Joe looked towards the boy in surprise and pulled him back, shaking his head no.
"Kid! You can't do that. It's very impolite! Be nice with how you knock."
The boy looked at him in so confusion, then shook his head and pointed towards the cabin before finally shaking his head in defeat as he was not able to pass on his idea. Joe looked at the boy, wondering, then realized that this might be a bit of a different situation, and went back to the door to rap on it much more firmly, his knock thundering hollowly through the dilapidated cabin. He waited for several monts, then looked back at the boy who ducked his head and pointed at the door once again. Really? Is the guy that deaf?
Joe pounded on the door once again before walking to the edge to glance around the side. The cabin was quite tiny, likely no more than a single room. His knock should have been easily heard, but the boy simply pointed at the door again. He pounded again, louder and longer, and finally heard a cry from inside, so he stepped back with so anticipation as he waited for the door to open. But even before a few seconds had passed, the boy tugged on a sleeve and pointed back at the door.
"Really? That wasn't an 'I am coming' call? What is he, a cranky old man?"
Joe stepped forward, and pounded so more, glancing back to Garnedell every once and a while when he stopped after hearing the call from inside. Each ti, the teen would shake his head and point back to the door, so Joe would start once more. Finally, he heard an angry shout from inside and the boy looked up at him and nodded.
"Finally. What is this guy's problem."
Joe found out imdiately when the door opened and the wash of alcohol was actually a visible wave the tumbled out and upwards into the air above the doorsill. The sll was so overwhelming that Joe almost got drunk just from the alcohol in the air.
"Great. A drunk priest! That's just aweso!"
The man ca out, waving and shouting at them, stumbling across the porch before throwing a weak punch against Joe's chest. Joe didn't move and allowed the hit to land, a hollow thud echoing through his chest. Joe's eyebrows rose in a bit of surprise when he felt the punch land. The guy can hit pretty hard! Even for a drunken halfhearted throw. He's a priest? Felt more like a boxer!
Joe watched the man step back from him and glance up at him with so surprise, his eyes blinking in bleary confusion as he tried to clear the alcohol from his body. The man staggered for a bit before he began mumbling sothing under his breath, waving his arms around with so confusion. He didn't do much and turned to leave, heading back into the cabin. The boy stepped forward quickly and grabbed at his arm and turned him back around while speaking quickly. The priest ignored Garnedell, seeming mostly confused, but when he saw he was being stopped, started listening. The man attempted to listen but soon beca belligerent, repeatedly interrupting and dismissing Garnedell.
* * *
"Enough of your nonsense! I care not for your master or his greatness, nor his questions which you obviously poorly understand!"
"Sire, he is seekin…"
"Look, boy. You say he is an adventurer? Adventurers only co to priests for three things, and he looks in hale health, no diseases and no curses."
Garnedell tried to interject again, explaining they did not need the priest, beyond his help in understanding his master, but the priest refused to listen and Garendell tried to continue quietly without exacerbating the priest further.
"His health be fine and I refuse to give any blessing. I have none to give! The only other service I provide is those seeking divine guidance to growth."
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Garnedell tried to interject but the priest only grew angrier and flung his arm away and Garnedell stumbled back slightly.
"He wishes to chance the divines? He may!" The priest shouted and turned to retreat into the house.
* * *
Joe growled slightly and stepped forward, grabbing the priest's arm before he would accidentally hit the boy. The man squinted at him angrily, shouting a bit before pushing away slightly.
"Look, man. I just want to change my job. Can you calm down and stop throwing abuse around?"
The man blinked several tis, then huffed in unhappy belligerence before bringing up a strange status screen Joe had never seen before. Joe quickly smiled, glanced at the screen, trying to decipher what he was seeing. But even as he looked at it, the strange squirming arcane letters before his eyes did not change, maintaining their mystery as they continue to squirm. The priest looked up at him, then snorted before pressing various buttons and going through several screens. The priest seed to get more belligerent and angry as he seed unhappy with what he was finding going through his status. He blinked at the boy, and the priest shouted out an angry sounding sentence, but the boy spoke back while pointed back at Joe. Joe had no clue what was being said, but straightened and tried to smile with a bit of sincerity. The man squinted then flipped through his pages before pushing a button angrily and swiped it towards Joe. A pop up floated up on his screen and Joe blinked in surprise.
Another has offered you control of their commands. Do you accept?
Joe read the screen with so slight trepidation. Joe saw Garnedell head towards the drunk priest, but then stopped him with a wave as he considered the popup before him. It was a bit nerve racking, considering that this was the first ti he had seen being able to interact with another's status screens. Are there such things as viruses contacted through this kind of 'unsafe' status interaction?
Joe wasn't sure what to consider, but looked at it with so trepidation before nodding. Joe was a bit surprised when his nod was accepted and Joe realized that the thing was tied, ntally, sohow, and didn't need physical interaction. What ca next was even more confusing than the last popup.
Speak the na of thy wish!
OK. Maybe it does need physical interaction… sotis? Joe's thoughts skittered at what he was seeing, uncertain of what to do. His mind wandered a bit before he finally decided to do what the thing said, taking a mont to clear his throat.
"Hunter," Joe spoke carefully.
Nothing happened and Joe frowned, a bit of consternation flooding through as he thought then decided that maybe he had to say more but was interrupted by the returning grumpy priest. The door opened again with a slam and the priest ca to him angrily waving his hand in front of his face.
Joe looked at the man with so confusion, then looked at the boy. Garnedell quickly understood his confusion and dug out a small coin to show to Joe before nodding to the priest.
"Right… gotta pay for services rendered. OK. Makes sense."
Joe dug around and pulled out the sa coin that the boy had pulled out, and the priest shook his head angrily, shouting at him even as he batted at the coin, knocking it away. Joe felt a bit of anger co over him, but was able to hold onto the coin. He looked towards the boy, and he nodded, pointing a finger up and pushing 'higher.'
"OK. More. Got it."
Joe pulled out the next denomination while looking at the boy, but he again shook his head in disagreent. This continued until Joe had pulled out his highest coin, and the boy continued to shake his head no and Joe sighed with resignation even as the priest's ire continued to rise.
"Whelp. There's only one thing that I have that's worth more. Gotta give that a try."
Joe pulled out a sli gem and offered it towards the priest. The priest almost imdiately silenced, looking at the gem before ripping it from his hand and looking at it carefully through drunken beady eyes. The priest finally grunted in acknowledgent, then back at the gem. He pointed at the gem then rattled off a long sentence of which Joe had no clue.
Joe looked towards the boy, and the boy pointed at the gem, holding up one finger, then pointed at him and the status screen while holding up two fingers. Joe smiled in understanding then gave a questioning look asking of the deal was good, sothing that the boy and Joe had worked out a few weeks ago when Joe had joined the boy in his pillaging of the candy in the local rchant's shop. When Joe saw that the priest was trying to rip him off, a bit of a shrewd look ca over him and he shook his head no, then pointed at the status screen with one hand and holding up four fingers before pointed at the gem and holding up one finger.
The priest growled unhappily, then countered with one for three, but Joe held firm, demanding one for four. The priest finally turned away with a growl and disappeared into the depths of his alcoholic cabin. Joe looked at the boy with so confusion, then shrugged his shoulders upwards while holding his hands out.
"So, what does that an? Is it a deal," Joe asked Garnedell while shifting his questioning shrug into a thumbs up.
The boy smiled and nodded, his thumb also going up. Joe smiled himself and then showed four fingers while pointed at the status screen before pointing out his gem pouch and holding up one finger. The gesture was completed with a questioning thumbs up, and the boy nodded happily while giving two thumbs up.
"Alright! That's great! OK. I got three more job changes then, right?"
Joe then returned to the popup and thought once again, carefully. Right, it says to say what I want, and I said hunter. Nothing happened. But I … want to change my job to… Ooh! Realization slapped Joe hard and he grinned, much more certain. Once again clearing his throat carefully, Joe enunciated carefully.
"Job change to hunter… please."
Joe frowned towards the end as statent was a bit blunt, and his ti in the East, Earth East, had been deeply ingrained into him, and the please kind of slipped out. Hope that doesn't… oh, never mind. Cool! He felt his status update, a strange feeling swam through his body, different than any other update he had felt. A feeling of both loss and change swept through his limbs then, nothing. Joe blinked his eyes with so surprise as the screen disappeared with the change, and nothing else seed to happen. He quickly brought up his status screen to look at what was available to him.
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