Something-or-Anothers: Tales of the Confused Adventure's Shenanigans

Sage was still holding her blade over the man's neck, even as Roen started at Sanz. No, glared at Sanz, "No! This is a perfect time!" Roen said, his guy was getting back up and starting to stumble away before Roen turned around and kicked him in the back and knocking the man over again.

"I mean.. actually we asked her to come along." Sage said, "but I think she is a big girl. She can make her own decisions." Sage said, giving Rhea a small wink, who seemed embarrassed and flustered from where he was.

"Di..did you just hit on my sister?" Roen asked.

"Oh little 'ol me? Yeah I've been hitting on her all day." Sage said grinning.

"You have?" Both Roen and Rhea asked at the same time. Rhea in confusion and Roen in outrage. Sanz could tell now, Sage was just egging Roen on.

"O-ok, lets all calm down." Rhea said, waving her hands lightly.

The bandit Sage had against her blade cleared his throat lightly, "Ah... can we go now?"

"oh yeah, I forgot about you.." Sage said suddenly.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sage...

Just--why?

Why was he like this?

At least thanks to Sage's... comment, they knew who this was. Rhea's brother, and definitely an older by the looks of it. Which put things in a... slightly more understandable light for Sanz. He knew what an older sibling would do to protect their family.

Sanz calmly walked over to where Sage was standing, pulled his sickle away from the bandit's throat, and then decked the bandit so hard that he fell over onto the ground.
"I'd use this opportunity to find a safer line of work if I were you."
Sage would then find Sanz's hand of top of his head, clenching his finger's into the young man's skull
"Sage... if you could stop acting like a gigolo for just 5 minutes, it would save everyone here a lot of time and stress."
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Tiger Dragon
Sage was surprised when Sanz decked the guy she was holding. He did a clean knock out before he grabbed Sages head. Sage all be crumbled, half trying to crouch out and under Sanz's grip, "ow-ow-ow-ow..." Sage said hissing is light pain. She was trying to shrink away, so it kept her from making any other comments.

Roen gave a small grow, but then sighed, seeing Sanz punish Sage in a way, so his hostility melted a bit.

"L-lets just go back. I'm sure all of us are very tried." Rhea said, putting her hands out as if to try and make Sanz give mercy on Sage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz let out a long sigh. The point had been made, and he was too tired to press the issue further. Sage found the grip on his head lightened, to the point where he could slip away without effort.

"Yes. Let's go, before someone else thinks its a good idea to fight after sundown."
Whether he was referring to the bandits or Sage was left up to interpretation.

Sanz walked back without saying much more. He kept glancing back over at Roen, a part of him wondering how the man had found out where he sister was and who had gone with her. Also, if he was so protective, why had Rhea agreed to go out at all?
 
Sage huffed and straightened her hair before she went to go go and steal the bandits daggers, at the very least for her troubles. She guessed since he was out stealing money, he probably needed it more then her. The guy was knocked out cold on the ground and Sage stretched, "Oh, lets check the quest board for bandits on the road, maybe we solved a quest without even knowing it."

Roan was glaring as Sage completely ignored what was going on around them and continued on as if he didn't come yelling at them, however, on their walk back, Roen insisted on carrying Rhea since she looked so exhausted. Eventually, the girl gave up and just melted on the back of her brothers back.

When they got back, the woman behind the counter gave them their reward and Sage was trying to get enough brainpower to math a split.

"Its ok, you guys don't have to give me anything." Rhea said happily, "I hardly did anything really."

"Rhea, how many times have I told you? You need to take rewards for jobs you did..." Roen said.

"But.. I think they need the money more then we do." Rhea said.

"We need money too..." Roen said.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz shook his head at Rhea's response.
"Rhea. Look at my injuries. You'll note I don't have any thanks to you. Look at Sage's injuries. He doesn't have any either. That is far from nothing. If you hadn't been with us then I would be half dead right now. We'll do an even third. You've done at least that much."

Sanz made his way over to Sage to help with the split. Hopefully two tired brains could pull the work of one fresh one.

"We'll be able to keep earning, don't worry about us."
 
"4 silver, so 1 silver and 3 copper between the three of us, on extra copper." Sage finally said, pulling out coppers to divi everything up correctly.

"You can keep the extra copper." Rhea said waving her hands.

"I'm too tired to argue that with you, so we'll keep it." Sage told Rhea before handing her the silver and copper.

"I guess you guys arn't that bad." Roen said when they didn't really cheat Rhea any.

"Ah come on, I may be kind of a player, but I promise I'm not really a bad person." Sage said, lauging a bit, "But I don't know about you guys, I'm ready for some dinner and a bed."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz chose to say nothing regarding Roen's back-handed compliment. He was just trying to keep his younger sister safe, no need to bring attention to it.
"I'll second that notion. We all need rest."
He and Sage also needed to have a talk about their plans going forward. If the two of them kept tackling things the way they were currently, then one or both of them would be dead very quickly.

"Thanks for your help today Rhea. Go get some sleep."
 
"Thank you." Rhea said smiling at them.

Sage smiled backed, they got some food, ate, and went back up to the room. Sage gave an loud sigh as she colapsed on the bed. "Fuck, I thought we were going to die today." Sage told Sanz. That was an understatement. For a whole moment of being rolled over on to by the slime, Sage was SURE she was going to die.
 
Sanz admitted one of the things grating against him at this point was the same-y food that the two of them continued to eat in the guild hall. Anything more expensive was, of course, out of the question but that didn't make it more palatable.

The man sat on the edge of his bed as Sage collapsed onto the bed. His head was drooping in front of him, with a man of hair falling around it, and for a minute he didn't respond to Sage's comment.
"There was a very real possibility that we would have. Quite frankly, the two of us are lucky to still be breathing right now."
Sanz turned his head up and looked at Sage directly. His eyes were hard. Not angry, just set.
"The two of us need to seriously rethink our plans going forward. If an error on the quest-giver's part can result in something like that showing up without us being prepared for it, then we can't afford to keep going as we have been."
 
  • Sympathy & Compassion
Reactions: Tiger Dragon
Sage turned her head from where she was laying, resting in her folded arms. She looked back at Sanz, he had such a serous look. For a split second, Sanz's words rushed over Sage and she turned away from him.

Before she could even stop herself, "I was really scared.." Sage tried to keep the tremble out of her voice.

Almost as soon as she said it, she felt like she regretted it. She knew she had been really keeping up the shrade of being happy go lucky, but the truth was even that was becoming tiring for her. So much so, Sage was beginning to not care if Sanz even found out about her gender.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz turned to look at Sage when the young man turned over. Of course he was scared. While Sanz hesitated to use the term normal to describe Sage, but in terms of facing physical harm he was definitely far more ordinary than Sanz. And now in the last two days, they had faced possible death twice. Today being especially eye-opening. The man took a deep breath and folded his hands together.

"Listen. When I was looking through the available quests, there were plenty of level 2-3 quests that don't have the same mortal danger as the last couple we've done. They don't pay as well, obviously, but we could also do them on our own. So if each of us did one of those separately we could make a similar amount of cash without needing to stare death in the face. At least until we have the gear and skill-sets to deal with them."

The man let out a sigh. He was still trying to get used to thinking of this world as half-game and half-reality.
"That should at least get us through the immediate future, and let us gain strength. Speaking of..."
In all the commotion. Sanz had completely neglected to check his guild card after the fight. What greeted him was... three different numbers glowing. a red 1, an orange 2, and a white 1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tiger Dragon
Sage listened to what Sanz suggested and he was right. They didn't need two people to do fetch quests. But, what if a fetch quest went wrong? Sage gave a long shrug and turned over into bed. Sanz came up with a pretty good idea though. They were highly under-equipped. But.. they also were under-networked. "We need more friends." Sage told Sanz, "We'll be together, but just us, I'm starting to think we might not have a chance. We need to meet more people. Rhea is a good start, but one person certainty won't help us in the long run."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz turned his head away with a grimace on his face. It wasn't that he though Sage was wrong. He was correct, they needed help if they were ever going to defeat this "demon king," especially in a reasonable time frame. They also needed to learn about the world, and people would be the best way. They also would definitely be unable to cover all available skills between just the two of them.
...
That didn't mean he was going to embrace it. Sanz was not a particularly great in social situations--came with the territory of beating others up on a semi-daily basis.
"That will probably be more your speed than mine..."
Sanz flopped down on the bed, holding up his guild card in front of him.
"We'll see what quests pop up. It sounds like we both need sleep."
 
Sage's body couldn't agree more. Sleep was everything she ever wanted right now. Though her mind was doing roundabouts and not really settling down. How to do this. What if I do that. Etc. etc. It was kind of ridiculous and frustrating. Thing was, Sage didn't want to fall too far behind Sanz in levels or usefulness. Sage didn't want Sanz to have to pull all the weight in this relationship. Eventually, Sage's thoughts slowly turned into a mumble and she fell dead asleep.
 
Sanz remained awake for some time while Sage tossed and turned in the bed next to him. Thinking about their next steps, what Sage had said, and the sheer weight of everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. How long would the two of them be stuck in this world? His restless thoughts carried into his dreams, and despite his exhaustion didn't sleep that well.

Sanz's first few days were spent on basic gathering and hunting quests. They were decent for getting to know the immediate area, but they also didn't give Sanz the kind of experience he was looking for. He needed to upgrade his combat skills, and more importantly he needed to narrow down how different fighting in this world felt from his own. The answer came on the fourth day of solo questing.

There was a fighting pit in town. Not illegal, but it attracted a number of less savory individuals. But they were willing to pay for a new body, and Sanz was more than willing to fight with no weapons or armor. Over the course of several nights, he did find that his limbs sometimes didn't quite act as he wanted them to--seeming to show that his skill in hand-to-hand combat was not quite as good now as it had been in his world, but only rarely. And as he continued to level up his fists skill, it happened less and less...

There were even a few people from the ring Sanz could call contacts thanks to his time there. Whether they be fighters with mutual respect, or those who enjoyed watching, or even one who attended to the fighters after. Sanz didn't talk about them much to Sage, only speaking about them in broad terms. And when he came back with bruises or cuts from his bouts, he never mentioned them. It was his choice to participate, Sage didn't need to worry about it.

Over the course of three weeks, Sanz slowly managed to build up his funds, ending up with a reserve of roughly 21 silver. He had of course earned more than that, but a larger portion of his earnings than he would like had gone to food and board within the guild. He had also made an expense for a pair of metal bracers, along with flexible clothes for fighting in. Every night, he would wash up, sit down with Sage, and the two of them would talk briefly about their lives in the old world. Sanz obliged mostly for his sanity--there was no one else he could speak to about their old lives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In three days time, payment for another week of board was due, and Sanz was starting to get tired of it. He and Sage were having enough issues trying to build up funds as it was, and paying for two meals along with weekly rent had been eating into whatever savings they made. That morning, he stopped Sage before the two of them headed out.

"You know I was thinking... we should really start thinking about finding a different place to live. I'm getting really tired of deducting the pub costs and weekly rent from everything we earn. Your thoughts?"
The man tilted his head slightly. He'd been trying to open up more to Sage over the last few weeks--with sporadic success.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Tiger Dragon
While Sanz leveled a bit faster, doing whatever solo things Sanz may have been doing, Sage did make an effort to expand their social standing. Sage made it her business to pick fetch quests that required a little less fighting and more socializing. There, Sage talked and got to know a lot of other adventures, towns people and shop keepers. In fact, to Sanz annoyance, Sage left him a note once sayings she was out to see her girlfriend. Of course, it didn't last and they broke up about a week into the relationship because of reasons Sage didn't disclose.

About Sanz's fights, Sage didn't really stop him or get nosy with him, but she did make it her business to make sure Sanz had clean wounds. Some quests got Sage meal tickets and she often would bring Sanz back some food that she cooked. Sage meet a few notable people who were willing to teach her a skill or two, including a rouge like character named Riviet who taught Sage illusion magic and tipped her in the secrets of becoming invisible. Sage kept this a secret, as she was excited to surprise Sanz with it one day.

Sage was able to acquire more stuff then silver really. But the things lightened their load a bit when it came to food and such. Though, with some of the excess silver, Sage got herself both sickles, better patchwork armor, not quite leather, and a small hand cross bow. Sage also started to dable in alchemy, telling Sanz with his gathering skill, they could try and craft potions, poisons and other things to also lighten their financial burden.

Sage, although she knew she annoyed Sanz a lot, felt like Sanz was her only friend in the world. However, they hadn't gotten quite close enough to share with each other about things other then their mundane part of their lives, like going to school, cell phones (which have long died), and better foods.

One week, after breakfast and walking to the quest bored, Sanz finally spoke up about lodging.

"Hmm, we are approaching the incress in our rent, arnt we?" Sage said. That was a problem. "Well, I can ask around several of our, well my, contacts. Might be able to find a few places. I don't really want to camp." Sage told Sanz, scathing her head a bit as she thought.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ixidor92
Sanz pondered the idea for a minute. He hadn't really considered camping, and on a surface level he didn't really mind it. However--with the number of monsters that were running around, and especially if anything like that King Slime showed up again...
"Yeah, go ahead and check with them, most of the people I've met won't be any help there. We could save a lot more cash in the long run if we had our own place and means to cook rather than paying the guild for everything."
Of course, Sanz had no idea what the market would be like, how much money would they need, or more accurately: what kind of dwelling could they acquire with their current means?
"Any ideas who to speak to first? It may be a good idea to ask around and see what kind of funds we'll need before grabbing more quests."
 
"Hmm, I know a few people I can ask, but none of them really own property. Buut, they might be able to introduce me to someone who does." Sage told Sanz, "I think most adventures rent out a room with another family or something." Sage told him, "I don't know if we'd even get a private place to live. Though, that would be nice if we did." Sage mentioned.
 
"Hmm..."
Sanz put a hand to his chin as his thoughts swirled. At the very least, he would like a place to sleep and a place to cook without paying rent on a weekly basis. Or at the very least, pay less. Of course, any loss of rent came with an increase in up-front price. If they could at least get an estimate though... they could start working towards a goal. The man was starting to become more confident in his abilities, and hopefully Sage was the same way. Maybe they could even start working on higher-level quests...

One step at a time.

"Any idea where this contact of yours might be right now? I'd like to see what our options are at least."