Authors: Scottie Futch
Scott snidely said. "Well, maybe he had to feed his catfish head."
Rhea groaned at Scott for his lame attempt at humor, but then they all began to laugh a little. It was entirely possible that Scott was right. Who really knew what a guy with a catfish head wanted out of life?
Chapter 2
The sun had approached the mid-point in the sky, and most people had begun to take their midday meal by the time that the foursome had finished their simple business in the town of Primrose Acres. A small town with only a few hundred residents, it was the perfect stopping point between Valkovia and White Oak.
Scott counted out the coins gathered from delivering the barbecue and the flowers on time then shared it between the four members of the group. The flower delivery had only been worth fifteen copper, but it was a simple job. The social experience was just as important as the money. The total take from those two jobs was one hundred thirty-five copper. While they had wanted to always split group earnings in half, part for the bank and part for their pockets, everyone agreed that it would be best to split eighty coins among the four of them and deposit the rest.
They stopped at a local restaurant,
Dancing Daisies
to get a quick bite to eat before they went to meet with Mrs. Kilman about her cat problem. Their meal was simple, but cost them the better part of their flower delivery money. Such was life.
"So, things have gone well so far," said Scott, before he took a drink of the odd tasting apple juice that he had ordered. He had never been a big drinker of alcohol, and did not think it would be a good idea to drink any before going on a combat mission even if he had been.
"These sorts of jobs normally do. Unless there is some sort of skirmish between forces, or a bandit raid, delivery jobs are almost ridiculously easy to complete," said Rhea.
Ero used a spoon like a shovel, and lifted a cube of sugar up and over the side of her tea cup. She then hopped up and gently stood on the rim of it while she stirred it.
Rhea noticed her antics then smiled. "You would drink that easier with a fairy glass or taking the proper size."
The fairy giggled a little, but said nothing. She was enjoying herself. However, she was not the only one to enjoy herself, Herbert spent his lunch dining on a salad with a side order of exotic cheese. He was not one to skimp on food.
Neither of them ate a heavy meal. They did not want to stuff themselves before a fight. That would make them sluggish.
"So, do you know anything about the cats around here?" Scott asked Rhea.
She tapped her chin for a moment then shrugged. "They are a fairly common species. They run in prides, but the ones near this area are usually low level. There won't be many places within three day's walk that would have monsters that are too much for us to handle."
"Any special abilities to worry about?" he asked.
"They have a lot of strength and agility, but otherwise they are not particularly difficult to deal with at the level we would find them at around here. Take a walk out into the grasslands for a day or two and that will change," said Rhea.
The lunch conversation turned to simpler things after that. Most of it revolved around the hijinks of Ero and Herbert as they enjoyed their meal.
After lunch they made their way over to the Primrose Dance Studio to meet with the lady who had posted the work notice, Mrs. Kilman. The dance studio turned out to be an outdoor dance floor with a small house attached on the side. Dance classes were weather dependent, and mostly at night in order to allow for a romantic atmosphere. The owner taught dance styles for couples.
Mrs. Kilman was a handsome older woman with honey blond hair, and a merry twinkle in her eyes. She absolutely adored the fact that the people who accepted her job request considered each other a family. It did not take long to get down to business, however.
"Yes, the cats have caused a lot of problems recently. I don't know why there are more of them in the area than usual, but now that there are more of them they have started coming closer to town at night," said Mrs. Kilman.
Ero sat atop Scott's head in a cross-legged position and listened absent-mindedly as Scott and Rhea discussed the situation with the older woman. She did not have much to add to the conversation, so instead she spent the time listening for information and contemplated the days to come.
The fairy girl could not help but sigh a little after she turned her head and gazed out at the dance floor. She could grow in size, but until her power grew considerably she would be limited in how often she could do so. She would not be able to maintain her form for more than a few minutes without using her greater power in a battle.
She smiled softly to herself as a sweet daydream arose before her eyes. She dreamed of being with Scott on that floor, a romantic couple dancing the night away. At the moment, it was impossible for real. She could maintain her form for a few short dances, but then she would take hours to regain her strength. Ironically, the size shift lasted a little longer when she was a high-level first tier fairy back on the casual server.
Ero wrapped her arms around herself and swayed back and forth while she listened to music that only she could hear. The conversation continued around her, while she was lost to the rhythms of a beautiful day dream.
"Alright, we'll head north and see if we can help control the local population a bit," said Scott lightly.
Mrs. Kilman granted him a warm smile and said, "Thank you." before the group turned away.
"Dah duhn duhn dah duhn, dah duhn, dah duhn." mumbled Ero lightly as she swayed back and forth.
Scott reached up and offered her his finger. She wrapped her left arm around it then smiled sweetly. "May I have this dance?" she asked the finger.
He laughed a little then wiggled his finger like it had taken a proper bow. Ero and Scott's finger wobbled back and forth while she hummed the waltz tune.
Rhea glanced at them briefly then averted her eyes and took a deep breath. She continued forward without saying anything.
The foursome left the studio and headed toward the northern gate of the town. It was a short walk. They had plenty of time to reach the field beyond town.
After a short chat with the town guard, they left and headed north through the field toward the hills beyond. On the way, Scott mumbled something about wondering how long it would take to find the wildcats. As it turned out, it did not take long at all.
The background music of the world went from subtle and adventurous to a quirky electric guitar dance mix, complete with minor brass horn accompaniment, the moment three rapidly moving felines raced into the area.
The team scattered immediately, and set up positions. Ero took the lead in the attack by using one of her new abilities as a tier-two fairy to conjure a ball of water. She tossed the ball up into the air then shouted, "Ero's Water Hammer!"
The small ball of water shot down at an angle and slammed into an oncoming wildland cat with great force. The feisty feline cried out a kitty cry of pain as it was crushed into the ground. It was either dead, or unconscious, but either way Ero had set the tone of the fight.
Herbert stood back and began to shake his hips in a rhythmic manner. His little rodent booty wiggled to the left and then to the right. He whirled around and started to walk backwards with one paw in the air and his head tilted down.
The team suddenly felt lighter, more capable of moving with precision and greater speed as Herbert's dance took effect. It was one of the dances he had learned over the course of the last week by practicing at night,
Moonwalk
. It was a power that lowered the weight of party members and allowed them to move with improved ease. It also increased jumping ability slightly.
The moment Herbert started to dance, cat cries echoed throughout the area. He had offended the pride of the wildland cats by dancing in their domain!
Scott put the bonus to good effect by leaping forward and entering the fray with a flying kick. It was hard to hit a rapidly moving target with a jump kick, much less a flying kick. However, to his enjoyment and surprise, his swift attack easily connected with his target. The furry beast attempted to dodge to the side, but the sorcerer's foot plowed into its body with a decidedly heavy strike.
He felt the cat's chest give way under the assault. The unfortunate creature's ribs snapped inward with little effort and it was left with a badly puncture lunge. Scott finished it off with another kick to the chest, a hard heel kick. It would not suffer long before it died, the sorcerer had made certain of that.
In the distance, several more cats had begun to run down out of the hills. Scott turned to face them, Ero prepared another magical attack, and Herbert danced to the music.
Rhea spent a moment cleaning her blade as she finished off one of the other cats. One swift strike had easily sliced its skull open, defeating the beast with ease.
Another set of cries rose up as Herbert continued to dance. By the time the second wave of monsters arrived another wave had started out from the hills. They truly did hate dancing, it seemed.
"Keep it up Herbert!" shouted Scott before he leapt to the side. His sudden action allowed him to narrowly avoid the claw swipe of one of the slightly larger cats. This opponent seemed to be just a little tougher than the ones that had come before, but it was still not in his league. He was both higher leveled, and had greater skill to boot. For once, he faced an opponent in this world that he had an advantage against, an advantage that did not involve fleeing to a safe room.
Rhea pressed forward then leaned to the side to avoid a claw swipe. She immediately countered with a piercing thrust to the side of the beast. Her blade easily slipped between its ribs and punctured its heart. Never stopping even for a moment, she performed a spin to the side that pulled her blade free.
The movement allowed her to achieve the perfect position to unleash a highly precise slashing strike to exposed abdomen of a cat that had leapt toward her. She casually avoided its attack, and then tore into it with practiced ease. Another cat was down with little effort.
Ero unleashed another of her water hammers, this one was a two-fer as it hit a leaping cat and smashed it down atop one of its pride-mates. The attack had killed the first cat and badly injured the second due to the beast's weight crashing down atop it.
Herbert performed a quick spin then slapped one paw down toward his crotch while he thrust his other paw toward the heavens. The effects of
Moonwalk
continued unabated.
The biggest cat in the current wave leapt toward Scott but to its horror, the agile sorcerer ducked down then rocketed upward at the last moment. He caught the cat mid-leap, and then performed a brutal suplex. The cat did not even have time to cry out as its head slammed down onto the cold unforgiving earth. Its neck snapped with a satisfying crunch. Scott flipped over as the attack sequence ended, and regained his footing to continue the attack. However, his opponent was clearly dead.
Another water hammer shot out. Another cat cried out in pain then fell to the earth in a bloody heap. The destruction wrought upon it caused it to look as though it had been shot by a cannon.
Rhea landed from a leaping attack that she had just performed. Her
opponent
landed in two separate pieces behind her.
The battle, such as it was, went without a hitch. It was not long until the waves of feline monsters stopped coming. The pride had been dealt with, though the team was not done with their hunting. Rhea cut the paws from the cats. Scott questioned her about them and she grinned.
"Yeah, each paw should count. So, we really only need to kill ten of them to make our quota." she said before hacking at the ankle joint of one of their defeated foes.
"There's more than two dozen here already," said Scott.
Rhea nodded to him. "It's an easy mission."
"I'm glad of it. Let's see how much we can milk out of it," said Scott. The mission briefing had said that they had to turn in at least forty paws. The more paws they had, the more they would earn as long as it was not too late when they turned the paws in to the guard.
After collecting the paws, the team set about butchering the cats for other parts including meat, fangs, and various organs. Basically, they wasted nothing. Each part would fetch a certain amount of money or could be used for crafting purposes.
"You know..," said Ero as she fluttered around the pelt of the largest of the cats. "Yes, definitely." She tilted her head to the side. "I think."
"What's on your mind, Ero?" asked Rhea.
The fairy turned to her blue haired comrade. "I think I can probably use this one. The rest are too small for my skills to work."
"You can craft with it?" asked the elf maiden as she tied off a bundle of meat.
"Yeah, I think," said the fairy girl. She pursed her lips for a moment then puckered her lips and made a cute noise. "Think I should give it a try? My skills are magic based, so I can make simple things even without tools."
Rhea glanced over to Scott. He was busy with Herbert. The Grassrat member of the team wanted to find a cat skull that he liked for some reason. "Sure. It's not like any of these parts are worth much. The paws are the big attraction for us because of the mission."