Chapter 21

  “Shit,” I mumbled as I walked outside of my tent. It was what, the ninth or tenth day since I’d started my travel? The days kind of blurred together, a mixture of battling Muns, walking, and just exploring and taking in all of the beauty around me. I was still in the Gemstone Plains, though according to the map I was nearing the portion that Silver Springs sat within. A section of area listed as the Shimmering Lands. If the Muns I’d run into in the Gemstone Plains were anything to go on, I figured I had a good idea of what the Muns in the Shimmering Lands would be like.

  “Shit shit shit,” I continued to curse as I held my gauntlet against my tent, mentally turning it back into a crystal. Packing up camp was so much easier in this world than it was back home. No fussy tent stakes to deal with, no unrolling and rolling up sleeping backs. The tent crystal literally just created a fully fitted, comfortable tent out of nowhere, complete with mattress, pillows, and blankets. And it wasn’t even a cheap mattress either. No, I slept like a baby each night on that thing.

  “Oh ho ho,” a voice called out cheerily as I hurried to finish putting everything away. A man in an overly bright, patchwork jacket was walking briskly towards me. He wore a hat that reminded me of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, along with a monocle that reflected purple in the early morning sunlight. His smile was overly warm, and his moustache… You could never trust a man with a moustache that large and curled.

  Though, that wasn’t even the most… disturbing feature of him. Strange clothing and questionable facial hair aside. He had a mullet. Who the hell willingly made the life choice to have a mullet?

  “Good morning to you on this fine day, traveler,” he said as he picked up his pace. I glanced around, noting he didn’t have any Mun out. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. A quick glance at his left hand showed a gauntlet, gleaming augmenting crystals across all five knuckles, and an amplifier on the back of his palm. Meaning, his Gauntlet was at least Tier 3. That meant what… his Muns could be up to level 50? My strongest, Cogberus, was level 18. With my others sitting at 16.

  “Uh,” I looked around. There was no one else around us. No other signs of human life. Just the occasional signs of Mun. I’d picked my camp sight near a pond I’d found near the side of what was surely a road I’d been following towards Silver Springs. It made sense, I guess, that sooner or later, I’d come across other people. “Hello?” I said sheepishly. He was less than fifteen feet from me now.

  “Have I caught you at a bad time?” He asked as he slowed his approach, looking me up and down. I was pretty sure I looked pretty disheveled still. I wasn’t a morning person. Morning people, well, you couldn’t trust them, as far as I was concerned. I’d been looking forward to pulling out some of my morning rations, which included a crystal that actually had a coffee pot that made a cup of coffee once per day, to start my morning. Without caffeine in me, well, let’s just say I wasn’t the most personable.

  “You could say that,” I answered in a grumble, “can I help you?” My comment was short, and perhaps a bit ruder than was proper. Given his gauntlet, I probably should treat him with a little more… politeness. But again, I hadn’t had my coffee yet.

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  “Ah,” he looked where my tent had just been, “did I interrupt your breakfast?”

  “You did,” I said coldly. “So, again, can I help you?”

  “Honestly,” he looked at my gauntlet, then back at me, “even if I needed aid, you probably wouldn’t be able to assist me. No offense.” He smiled, as if flashing his white teeth would disarm me. Instead, it just made me even more annoyed.

  “Then if you—”

  He cut me off. “—instead, allow me to apologize for starting us off on the wrong foot.” As he spoke, he reached into a bag he wore around his waist. Unlike my stylish thigh pouch, his was, well, a very large, overly colorful bag that normally I would assume held just a metric shit ton of marbles. He pulled out a few crystals and smiled, “breakfast on me? Assuming you’re a new Tamer, I’ve a feeling you’ve been sustaining yourself off boring old rations.” He tossed the crystals to the ground, the gems releasing light as they became fluid, using the strange magic of the world to take shape and assume their actual purpose.

  A massive tent appeared where the first landed. It was large enough that it reminded me of a shopkeepers tent from the Renaissance Faire back home. In front of it, a rug and some additional furniture appeared. The man walked to the tent and opened the flap, revealing within a spacious, well furnished… shop? It looked like a whole ass shop. Like, coffee shop combined with bakery combined with general store? Was this man a traveling merchant?

  “Come on inside,” he smiled politely, motioning with his free hand for me to step inside. “And I’ll get you a delicious breakfast, on the house. Again, as an apology, for interrupting your morning routine.”

  “And then?” I asked, my distrust clear in my tone, “what?”

  “Well, then I suppose it’s up to you. I’m a traveling merchant, you see. A one stop shop for all those who are embarking on Tamer’s journeys. If you happen to need Refreshers, I’ve got them. If you need better rations, I’ve got them. In exchange for breakfast, I’d just ask you peruse my wares, see if there’s anything I have that you might need, before you head off to Silver Springs?” His moustache twitched upwards as his eyes looked me over. “I can also answer questions you may have for free, assuming I have the answers. And, I’ll throw in a bit of advice, free of charge of course, for a brand-new Tamer,” he paused, once again looking me up and down, his eyes shifting to predatory now, “for someone who’s new to the world of Mutopia.”

  “How—” I started, but he waved it away, again motioning within the tent.

  “—all will be answered, once you step inside young lady,” he glanced back in the direction he’d come, the direction of Silver Springs, “and might I advise you do so sooner, rather than later? Not everyone who travels these roads is as, well, magnanimous as I am.”

  “Is that so?” I asked, immediately trusting him even less. Self-proclaimed good guys, were almost always red flags.

  “It is,” he said gently, “now then,” another motion of his hands, “if you would be so kind.”

  I sighed, uncertain if I even had a choice in the matter. I didn’t know how this world worked, when it came to using Mun against other people. I knew you could battle others, obviously, since that’s what I needed to do against the Keeper. But, aside from that… could he use his high level Muns against me? At the very least, I had no doubt if he was up to no good, he’d likely have plenty of items or things on him to make sure he’d get away with whatever it was he was up to. Meaning, it was probably best I just go along with his wishes for now. Though, as my hand drifted towards my left thigh, my skin prickling across my tattoo as unwanted memories came to surface, there was no way in hell I was consuming anything he offered me that didn’t come directly from a crystal, and that I’d seen him consume first and foremost.

  “Alright,” I said with another sigh as I walked past him. “Let’s get this ordeal over with.”