NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47 - Ma'am Q
As I followed Naiad, I noticed the new bow on her back. Bark covered most of it, with only the middle wrapped in leather for grip.
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[(Item, unique) Single Limbed Bow: Foday created this bow from the limbs of Lady Branchelot. The durability of this item is stronger than most bows and even has a slow self healing buff in a forested area. Twice an hour, the bow can cast a vining spell and fired along with the arrow.
Added Range on attack: + 30 meters.]
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"Wow, that's an upgraded bow!" I said as I followed her through the back streets of Fanamel. "Hold on, I got you a quiver with a fire rune on it, and room for one more."
I gave her the quiver I bought in the Bow Tekes shop.
She snatched it and put it on.
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[(Item, rare) Dual rune quiver (fire, and unused): This quiver will imbue the arrow with additional fire damage. One rune slot remains unused.
Added Fire Damage: +4]
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"Thank you for this! This damage would've made slaying those monsters easier," she said, pointing for us to turn down a narrow walking path that forced us to walk in a line. A few bridges linked the closely situated buildings above.
"Yeah, and I definitely need to stick with you. I got myself into too much trouble over there in hell," I explained.
"Did you sell yourself to another god?"
"Nah, but got stuck with an annoying gamer."
"I get that. But the game got better as he leveled up," she smiled back at me. "Thanks for the vines too. It helped finish my quest. Triangle's this way, through the gate."
The gate was a bunch of wood slabs nailed together and tied to a post nearby, with a sign saying "Street Closed". I could've made a better barrier out of popsicle sticks.
Naiad completely ignored the sign and lifted a loose board and pointed me through it. "Turn the corner and you will see Ma'am Q's shop."
"There's a shop… back here?" I asked. This narrow area away from the players was a terrible location.
"Dad!" Triangle shouted at me as he rounded the corner.
Hearing that word shouted made me instantly joyful. Triangle hopped over to me with his short legs and jumped for me to catch him.
The embrace felt so warm and the cold of hell's domain vanished away completely. I grabbed Naiad into the hug. "I missed you both so much. Let's get back to guild hall and talk about our plans."
Triangle head popped up, his little red hat pointing up at the same time. "That's why I was here! Where's our seed?"
"Our?" I asked. I didn't know if he also got one with Naiad.
"The one I found in Hell for the Legendary quest. The flower," Naiad stressed the last word.
"I got you. It's in my inventory and ready with some dirt." I winked at them. I was proud of myself for listening to Naiad's code word creation earlier. Seeing their smiles again made everything better, even if I had narrow vision. These two were my main focus.
With their enthusiasm in the game, I didn't care who got the quest reward as long as we were having fun and played together.
"Let's keep it that way," Naiad put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Keep it safe and we all get the buff."
"Come this way," Triangle wiggled out of my hold and dragged me by the hand around the corner. "I promise it will be quick."
"Faster than that. We can't be here, Triangle," I said, annoyed that through my joy at being with the kids again, I completely forgot about the original threat of Alcender. He was an alchemist, and probably new about the NPC.
Triangle led me to a small open area in the middle of the buildings. A bunch of plants in pots scattered about the area. Under an awning sat a few more plants and stands. But out by the street was an A-shaped sign with the text "Ma'am Q's Magical Bait written across it. Beneath that it advertised the price for the freshly caught bait. From a tin of flies for a five coins to a tub of worms for six coins, and beetles were the deal of the day. But all I saw outside the shop, were a bunch of plants.
"This is Ma'am Q. She's been teaching me how to grow plants and take care of them for herbs," Triangle ran inside.
As I entered the shade of the awning, my narrow vision flickered from a magical light change. I turned and looked back at the square. My hand went to my axe.
No, I need to be grabbing my shield first when I'm with my kids.
Naiad was behind me, and she glanced back. "Did you see that too?" she asked.
I tried looking around to see if a threat was coming. The color of the light made me think of Alcender, but there were no green player makers. I grumbled, "Not sure. My vision is still messed up from hell."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Naiad's eyes widened. "How long do you have on the debuff?"
I wanted to hit myself in the face for not looking at that first.
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[Permanent Debuff: Horse blinders. Learn to focus on your quests. You didn't turn in the quest or figure out what was in the box. Because of this, this status effect never went away. Also, you had a fun time looking into bright purple fiery lights.
Duration: 6 days, 23 hours, and 2 minutes.
WARNING: Staring at the sun will damage your eyes. In case you didn't know.
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I grumbled, "I failed a quest I had earlier. I guess my vision is stuck like this for a week." When Triangle turned to look at me with shock on his face, I smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry bud, this is easy to get used to."
"Pish posh," a woman said in a British accent. She pulled up a shawl on her shoulders as if what I said chilled her bones. "Its people like you accepting these ailments that's running me out of business."
"It could be your location or the store name." I pointed out as we entered the small shop, our team instantly crowding it.
"Someone told me being here would keep my research safe," the woman replied.
Plants covered the entire window, draping down onto the floor. A small Persian long hair cat was cutting off leaves with its claws and running over to put them in a basket for harvesting. Suspended in mid-air, the pots sent roots down to the soil below, craving nutrients and space.
This was the place Triangle hung out and leveled up in the game. This was his hobby and his fun. He told me a bit about it, but I wanted to learn more about what I missed. "Triangle, how did you find this place?"
"The rat map." He said as he ran over and hopped in front of Ma'am Q who gave him the watering can and yanked a fat juicy worm from a nearby pot. The worm went straight to his inventory. "No Goldy water blasts this time, I promise."
Hearts floated above her head. Even mine was overflowed by the moment. The woman walked rigid and straight, and though her knees popped, it didn't slow her down to kneel and check on her livelihood. Naiad squatted next to her and pet the cat as it ran by her.
Ma'am Q harrumphed in my direction. "I see you have the moments of undead lingering around you, and you twirl your head around like an owl. Vision problems with the purple flame?"
"Yeah," I answered, "how did you know about the purple flame vision issues?"
"You're the second person to have it. My assistant had it once, and we worked through a potion. Dealt with, ahh, what was it?" She turned around and wandered her shop, smelling each plant. "No, wasn't this one. Hmm, oh dear, Triangle, this needs a bit of fertilizer."
Seeing the dirt reminded me of our original purpose of being here and again, how easily I got distracted. "We have a more of a pressing issue on hand. Do you mind if I draw a circle of in the ground here?"
Ma'am Q waved her hand, "It just adds to the piles on the floor anyways."
I grabbed a handful of the hell dirt and made a tight circle around me. Then, with speed, I prepared another handful of dirt and pulled out the prickly demon seed and covered it with dirt. "Hopefully, the bunny doesn't see it now," I said.
Naiad grimaced and crossed her fingers. "Yeah."
Triangle touched the seed and remembered why he shouldn't, as a drop of blood vanished. "Ow! Ma'am Q, do you know how to plant this?"
The woman gasped and covered herself with another shawl from her bag. "Be a gentleman and take that back where it belongs. Then to plant it, you need to aerate the soil on the acidic side."
I noticed both Naiad and Triangle taking notes. Oh jeez, I need to do the same. This game doesn't record information.
"Don't forget to put fertilizer around it! Fresh from a large beast and make sure it gets wet initially, but keep it away like a mountain run off-"
A whistle interrupted Ma'am Q. Everyone turned their attention to the front of the shop, while the cat ran off to the back of the shop. Under the awning stood a man with yellow eyes and the tallest blown out hair this game could offer. He smirked while leaning against the awning post like some tech guru posing for a magazine. Alcender the Sleazeball stood as tall as Naiad and I wanted to knock him down below Triangle.
"Boulder, buddy, you're the one with the Legendary Quest? Why didn't you tell me?" He drew a small tear down his cheek. "Almost made me cry at how you can't trust me."
"Kids, get behind me." I growled. I grabbed my shield with my free hand, all the while keeping my eyes on Alcender. He was too slimy and had us pinned in this small shop. "Keep away from us. We're done."
He stood up and took one step closer. "I would've thought so. But you caused me to spend a very expensive portal escape scroll and made me buy a portal passage on the way here to follow you. Along with my shield ring! I need you to pay that back."
I couldn't move the seed back to my inventory fast enough. It had to remain out for two more minutes to avoid players dashing items in and out like a juggling act. Even with its prickles, I gripped the seed tighter and defended myself with my shield.
"Alcender, what is going on? Did you harm these people?" Ma'am Q stepped forward to the man without a single concern.
"I'm just trying to keep the business going and they seem to be in the way." He made a pouty face and walked right next to us.
"Oh!" The woman perked up. "The king wanted more potions for his ailment. I need your help to brew them. Triangle dear, why don't you join us and learn from Alcender how to make these?"
"What? No." I needed a third arm to grab the gnome.
"Sure!" Triangle pipped in.
I wasn't alone. Observant Naiad grabbed her brother's arm. "Stop, Dad was warning us about this guy. Remember?"
"Dad?" Alcender laughed in my face. "Oh, how pitiful do you have to be to bring your kids with you into gaming? Are they even yours? I just can't see a guy as flopping around in this game getting any."
"Shut it and leave the kids out of this." I wanted to throw my shield and axe at Alcender, but I didn't want the city guard alerted.
Ma'am Q walked to the back of the shop where multiple distilling, glasses, and fermentation jars filled the room. "Come along." She stopped walking and grabbed her side. "Oh!"
She stumbled to the ground, gasping as her blood pooled out on the dirty shop floor. She held her side for a moment before her health dropped with another hit from Alcender. "Sorry, Ma'am, but business isn't…AAAA!"
A yowling cat leaped up to Alcender's back and crawled up to his face, hissing and attacking at the man who killed his owner. I took the moment of distraction to shove Alcender down, dropping the seed, and ordered the kids. "Go, go, go, I'll explain everything later!"
Naiad listened by grabbing the seed and Triangle's hand and ran. I joined in on the cat fight and knocked Alcender around. He tried to blast me with a spell, but I head-butted him before he could finish it.
It hurt me, but stunned him a lot more. The cat leaped on top of his face and he let out of a cry of pain as deep scratches turned his smooth skin red. It gave me time to stand up and check on the kids. Triangle was tugging at Naiad's arm to go back, but no other threat had them.
"Get off!" Alcender wrestled the cat, destroying the surrounding pots. I kicked one at him and he cursed back. His health bar was still full. Finally, he grabbed the cat and flung it out the door, grabbing his wand. Before he could shoot it, I used my axe to send a potted plant at the wand.
The magical shield ring stopped my attack and launched the pot back at me with equal force. With a grunt, I took the hit in my shield. By the time I peeked my head around my shield, Alcender was back up and casting his electric glow spell.
The electrical bolt hit me and stunned me. As sparks and spot blurred my vision, it created the worst rave effect ever. With a cat flying, a man casting spells, and my axe slashing at pots, I prayed the kids got away.
"You know why the Prince of Fanamel never goes out?" Alcender wasn't talking to me, but his fans. "He's a child, and it's too expensive for an obvious target of the king and queen to be walking about."
"Dude, this is just a game!" I yelled.
"Let go!" Naiad screeched out behind me as she fought off someone taking the seed from her.