Chapter 10
by inkadminHunter Ellen
Ellen was worried.
She hadn’t braved going into the cave again—as a Hunter, she was much more suited for being outside than crawling through the darkness with their only lantern. Village Ellen wasn’t suited for helping her out, since the inn had been slow and they really couldn’t afford another pair of boots any time soon.
So she’d carefully laid pebbles and thread around the entrance of the cave. It wasn’t anything close to enough to obstruct anyone, but she’d been careful to memorize the exact layout, and she really doubted a goblin would be smart enough to pick their way carefully through, or see enough of a pattern to put things exactly back where they’d been.
Yet the cave showed no signs of anything leaving. If the goblins were in there, they’d been hiding for over five days now, and that seemed unlikely. Either Village Ellen’s theory about the goblins was wrong… or there was another way out of the cave system, which was entirely possible.
“Ugh, what is that smell?”
A familiar voice tugged Ellen out of her idle thoughts while she was trimming the pelt. Two Ellens were standing nearby, revealing Village Ellen—now in her normal clothes instead of the borrowed dress—standing next to the returned Adventurer Ellen. The latter was wrinkling her nose in disgust, while Village Ellen tried not to laugh. Village Ellen had seen this plenty of times.
“Squirrel brains.” Hunter Ellen grinned as she turned to dunk her hands into her rinsing water, using a mostly-intact clay jar she’d found in the ruins. The sticky goop slid off her fingers with some rubbing in the water, while she explained the situation.
“I’ve been practicing with my sling and thrown rocks to get small game. I’ve mostly got the cooking part down and found a huge patch of potatoes nearby, so getting by without much help now.” She flicked her fingers dry and wiped them on the pile of grass she’d prepared.
“It’s going to be getting colder soon,” she pointed out. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to preserve pelts so we can start making our own cloaks and blankets. Buying them is expensive! I’ve mostly figured out how to make rawhide and could probably put together another pair of sandals now… but clothing is going to be a problem. Especially if we end up with more Ellens.”
The thought made Adventurer Ellen grimace, but she was already dropping her pack and handing over a wrapped bundle. “Well, when you figure it out, I got you a bow and some arrows for hunting something bigger. I managed to get more clothes as well, but they’re not much. I didn’t have a lot left over after buying the bow and another bedroll.”
Ellen gestured at the pack after picking up the bow. “Pick that up. I’m using this house to do the pelt preparation because it smells bad. Let’s at least drop that off at the tent, in case it rains.”
The day was a little overcast, and while Ellen couldn’t smell any dampness in the air, the winds had a way of surprising her here. The overhang she used to keep her pelts dry wouldn’t shelter anything much larger.
“Right,” Adventurer Ellen agreed, heaving it up again. She stumbled, and Village Ellen caught the girl and shook her head, shifting the pack to her back instead.
“You’ve been carrying this thing the entire way. At least let me do this for now. Really wish you’d been able to afford a new pair of boots…” Village Ellen sighed. She was still stuck in sandals, which weren’t the best for hiking around the mountain.
“I work with what I have.” Adventurer Ellen shrugged, then glanced back at Ellen. “So we do have another job from the Guild. It doesn’t pay well but it could help our reputation. Not sure how it’ll help us get more clothes, but we’ll figure something out. You’ve probably wandered around a little bit, think you could help map out the area before we hit the cave again? I just need to map it out.”
Ellen smiled. “I do have something I think you should see. I haven’t explored it yet, but let’s drop our extra stuff off and the bow too. We won’t need it and I haven’t practiced with it yet anyway. Have you hit Level 7 yet?”
Adventurer Ellen shook her head. “Not quite, but I’m close. That’s why I thought we could map out the area around the cave first. That should push me over the edge, just in case there’s more dangerous stuff in the cave. Not that it will help much…”
Village Ellen nodded in agreement. She had also hit Level 7, but as usual that Level provided no tangible benefit. It was widely believed that higher Levels increased survivability in some unknown manner outside of raw attributes and abilities. Ellen couldn’t blame her Adventurer self for wanting at least that much, whether true or not, given their poor track record in the cave.
“Village Ellen and I both hit that a bit ago, but I guess you’ve been traveling.” Ellen tucked the bow under the stretched cover of the tent. It was basically just the roof of her dwelling now, tucked away in a corner of one of the most intact buildings to keep the wind away. It was next to the hearth, but she was pretty sure a family of birds or bats or something were in the chimney so she hadn’t dared to try to use it yet.
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“Is this going to be dangerous?” Village Ellen asked with a frown. “I can head back to the inn if it’s dangerous.”
Ellen shook her head. “It shouldn’t be that dangerous. You’ll have to be careful, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t any large animals or monsters where we’re going. Grab the lantern though, we’ll need it. I cut the wick just yesterday and it still has half the oil, that should be plenty for a quick trip.”
Adventurer Ellen frowned, “I don’t want to go in a cave…”
“It’s not a cave.” Ellen grinned. “You’ll see.”




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