72 The Same Dream

We left the vicinity of the now ruined Sleepstorm Village, and headed south west towards our new destination. A place called Leaper Village, which was about four maybe five days away. During our journey, I couldn't help but wonder about the person with extensive poison knowledge. 'His knowledge would be really useful to me, but there are no leads. I'm also wondering about his motive. I'm not sure whether he is simply crazy, or would be willing to share something with me', I thought.

Nick only taught me in order to pass on his legacy. The knowledge he gained through all these years was really precious. Not passing it on, would be a shame. This made me wonder whether that other person had a student. More medical knowledge wouldn't bring me harm. 'Maybe instead of looking for new knowledge, I should study and try a lot of things out? I mean, what are the chances that we actually meet? Moreover, there's no guarantee that person would be willing to share the knowledge with me', I thought.

The Art of Medicine had to wait though. I had more pressing matters on my hands, mainly my strength. There was no point trying to improve my medicine or poison, when a silver bear could take me out. Moreover, my stealth wasn't the best it could be. 'I know there's a long road ahead of us, but we have time. We can slowly improve, as long as we try to improve', I thought, then looked at Shelly following closely behind.

"It's getting late, why don't we stop somewhere for a rest?", I proposed. Shelly never refused a rest, therefore we found a quiet place to set up our camp. "Our supplies will be running dry soon... I'd understand you, but even my appetite grew lately", I said while heating up the meat over fire. "Mah, mah...", Shelly made a few noises then rubbed its head on me. "No, Shelly. I'm not actually getting fatter like you. Here, eat first you glutton", I said with a smile. Thanks to travelling with Shelly for so long, I learned to understand its intentions a bit better. The drawings came in useful when Shelly tried to explain something, but the basic feelings or emotions became clear to me.

Though my appetite was a bit worrying. Even when I stuffed myself during the evening, there was no escape from hunger in the next morning. Weirdly enough, this only happened when I dreamt about that hooded figure. An idiot would realise the connection, hence it was worrying. 'I'm still getting the same dream though. I mean, it's been a bit less than two months, and yet that dream persists', I thought. We had to keep a larger supply of food, just in case my needs for food became bigger out of nowhere.

That night, the dream returned. Same old thing would occur, or so I thought. The hooded figure talked to me in some sort of broken language, then as usual punched or kicked me. The dream was supposed to end there, but it didn't. The same stuff happened once more. The dream actually repeated itself once, before I was able to wake up.

'This is getting worse... What if this goes on forever in the future? What if I can't wake up, and starve myself to death?', I asked myself. "Grumble...", the grumble of my stomach demanded attention. I doubted anyone would be able to help me out, especially someone from a village. Perhaps a city would be a different story, but perhaps not. 'I promised Nick not to visit any cities, and stay at villages when necessary. I'm supposed to hone my skills, but with that thing looming over me... Let's see how that develops. It's not so bad yet, could've been worse', I thought.

For the next few days, the dream didn't appear again. This wasn't abnormal, but at least it didn't appear more frequently. After these few days of travelling, we finally arrived at the Leaper Village... Or so it seemed. The village didn't look like a village to me. I even checked the map a few times, before confirming that we arrived at our destination.

'Never heard of a village with stone walls. There are a few guards at the entrance too... Maybe the map is wrong?', I asked myself confused. There was only one way to find out. "Stop there stranger. What is your business here?", one of the guards stopped me and asked. "Can you tell me one thing though, is this the Leaper Village?", I asked, unsure. The guards looked at each other, then laughed out loud. "No, at least not anymore. How old is your map? This is Leaper Town, no longer a village. Anyway, your business?", another guard replied.

"I want to rest from my travels, and as you pointed out, get a new map", I said. "What about the turtle? Your supper for today?", he asked with a smile. "My pet", I replied shortly. "A pet turtle... You see some weird people in your life, eh? Alright go in, but don't cause any troubles", he allowed me to pass. 'A town... I need to get a new map for sure. Moreover, I need to get some information about this place', I thought while walking past the gate.

Indeed, the town didn't look much like a village. The roads were paved with stones, while the buildings were made either from stones or a combination of stones and wood. No houses were completely wooden. The design was much better as well. Someone had to put in a lot of work, in order to make such a town.

It took us a while to find a tavern, but we finally did. "What would you like, youngster?", the woman behind a counter asked. "A room, and some answers if you can", I replied. "Sure, though I hope that turtle of yours is going to behave... Hahaha. I'm joking, as if a turtle could make a mess. That's your pet or supper?", she asked. "Pet", I replied, not amused. "Eh? You are one of those serious types. Hope I didn't offend. Anyway, the room is 30 silvers per night. I can also answer some of your questions, if I can of course", she said.

"In that case, I'll take the room for three nights. You can include the meals as well", I replied. "Great, this will be 1 gold and 3 silver coins altogether", she informed me. "Here's the money". She then told me which room was mine, and handed me a key. "Remember though, this price doesn't include alcohol. That's on you", she added. "I don't drink, but thank you for telling me nevertheless. Can I ask a few of those questions now?", I asked. She told me to 'fire away', which I took as 'yes'.

"You call this place Leaper Town. I never heard about towns before. Besides the stone walls and houses, what other difference is there?", I asked my first question. "Ah, you must come from a small village. You see, a town is a bit more prestigious, I'd say. We have a dedicated team of guards, that provide safety for everyone inside the town. Our walls as you pointed out, are much better against attacks and can't really catch fire, right? The houses and other buildings are much more resilient. They can protect their occupants for a much longer period of time. Now that I think about it, a town is basically a lot safer village. Of course, the prices around here are higher, but the life is better too. The trade is much more robust, and you can get loads of good items from shops", she explained.

'Heh, that's interesting', I thought before asking a follow up question, "How does a village become a town?". "Hehe, if a village is prosperous enough, promotes safety by building walls and hiring guards, then any village can become a town. Of course potentially, but that doesn't happen, right? Before you ask, this town is prosperous due to the mines not that far away. Other villages don't have such privilege, therefore they stay as villages", she replied.

"Thanks, it's good to know. Now, can you tell me where I can get a good map?", I asked the most important question. "Sure, I can sell you one. Or you can visit another shop that has them. Of course, I'd prefer to sell you something of mine, but I will not force you". "Can you show me the most extensive map you have?", I asked. She nodded before leaving the counter for a while.

When she returned, there were two maps in her hands. "I'm not sure which terrains you are mostly interested in, but these are the two biggest maps we have", she explained while showing them to me. Indeed, the first map covered most of the south and a bit more east, but very little of the northern regions. The second map covered less south and east, but more west and north. "How much do you want for this one?", I asked while pointing at the second map.

"Hmmm, 3 gold coins", she said. "That's quite a lot for a map", I replied. "We are in a town, remember? Alright, you've been nice enough to me. I'll take 2 gold and 50 silver coins. No less than that", she proposed. "I'll take it then". This wasn't little for a map, but I wasn't exactly poor either. "This map is quite up to day, created only about a year ago. Moreover, there are some dangerous and interesting areas pointed out on it. It will serve you well, I'm sure", she added after I purchased the map.

"You are quite rich for a village boy, eh? Anyway, if you have any other questions or needs, be sure to come by. As for your meals, make sure to visit in the morning and afternoon. That's when we provide meals", she said and wished me a good rest. 'The map is taken care of. All that remains are some tools, and materials. Then we are good to go', I thought while heading upstairs to my room.