It was lunch time and that was the perfect time to relax and eat. People would gather around their table and share a meal together.
The heat of the sun burned on the back of travellers who'd travel in this particular moment. Anybody else would be looking for shelter or at least a shade to go under.
"Giddy up," Old Man Joe Light's cart trotted along the road. The donkeys made sounds of protests up to him and he sighed as he took out his water bag, "Quit yapping, we're nearly there."
Unlike travelling towards the Capital which took them some days, he was more eager to get back home than others. It was a good thing that his [ Farmer ] class had some useful [ Skills ] for his beast of burdens.
[ Donkeys: Enhanced Stamina ]
[ Donkeys: Fast Hooves ]
[ Donkeys: Enhanced Strength ]
"I don't even get how you guys are tired." Old Man Joe, or some of the people who remembered him had called him Joseph, complained as he drank some water. "We already sold the crops in the market so this cart's not so heavy."
The pair of donkeys made a sound that seemed like a snort to him.
If Old Man Joe Light had been some kind of [ Beast Tamer ] or [ Druid ] he might have been able to actually understand what the two asses were complaining about—but as a [ Farmer ] it was more of a general feeling.
He knew when they needed to eat, if they were parched or something. Becky had a more finesse grasp on animal moods, well the cows.
But he could finally see his destination in the distance, "Hey, we're nearly there you asses. That place got a nice stable if I remembered, so let's hurry up!"
The donkeys for once trotted much faster, they wanted their yokes to be temporarily lifted up.
It was lunch time, so this time around at her inn, especially now that she had less customers—she had decided to cook herself some noodles. Simple and easy to cook. She tasted it and sighed, "Wow, that boy… Timothy really got some skills in cooking. Mine seems to pale in comparison." The [ Innkeeper ] lifted the fork and continued to eat.
Food was after all food.
But she really could use levelling up her [ Basic Cooking ] if possible. There were things that she wanted to make—
A knock interrupted her musings.
Miss Nire Summer looked up at the door, "They usually come around here after sundown, did they not manage to hunt food in the forest today?" She picked up her fork and edged towards the door.
She could peek at the door and then check who was there. Slowly tiptoeing to the door, she placed her ear to the wood and tried to listen for any clue.
No sound.
Was this some kind of prank?
She opened the door by just a creak and the old man took off his hat and nodded in greeting, "Howdy Miss Summers, we meet again. Do you have anything for an old traveller?"
Nire hid the fork behind her back and grinned, "Ah anything for you old man! Business has been slow so I wasn't expecting visitors but please come in, I have noodles and juice. Or do you want me to cook something else?"
"That's alright, I don't want to interrupt you from eating," The old man placed his hat back on as he stepped into her inn, "I'll have what you're having."
So it happened that an [ Innkeeper ] and a [ Farmer ] were inside an [ Inn ]... there would have been a punchline if a [ Goblin ] had walked in or something.
Instead the two of them shared a quiet and nice meal together, for in some places, lunch could simply mean just quiet and relaxed dining.
Until someone asked the golden question, "How's the vegetables, Miss Summers?"
"Ah those, I enjoyed them! I managed to save some expenses thanks to you, Mister Joe."
He smiled but his smile fell.
"Something the matter?" Nire Summer asked and tried not to wipe the sweat on her brows. Half-wondering if there was some [ Skill ] that allowed the Farmer to have some kind of sixth sense on their vegetables whereabouts.
The old [ Hero ] shook their head, "An ancient strength passing through or probably just my imagination. Well it isn't stopping here so not our problem. You have anything to drink besides juice?"
She narrowed her eyes at the old man, "We don't serve a lot of alcohol here and isn't it bad for someone as old as you?"
"Hah! Don't worry about me, Miss Summers. I grow barley and other crops used for alcohol production, you can think that I have something like [ Alcohol Immunity ]."
"I don't think that's an actual skill…"
Amidst that discussion something flew across the sky.
A young [ Mermaid ], well she had two legs now, a young woman grinned as she gazed down at the forest and what looked like to be some inn—everything was tiny!
An arrow zipped into the sky but failed to hit them as they travelled past the area. She blinked and gazed at the Oaken Ashwood Forest. "Mister [ Wood Elf ] this is invisible isn't it?"
"Uh….no."
She stared at him, "So everybody is going to see us?"
"They should mind their business."
She tried to keep her face blank but waved a hand, "Let me take over this." She laced her fingers together and closed her eyes.
There was a legend in their world, when a mermaid died they'd be taken into the skies—turned into a spirit of the air and water.
In the skies.
There was water.
The clouds held and are made of it.
Droplets scattered across the sky began to coalesce and condense around their wooden ship.
[ Elemental Nature: Undine: Water Refractions ]
Sunlight pierced through the water droplets, the water shimmered and glittered as colors separated and joined around the ship.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, water is also in the sky so I made the water droplets surround this [ Zephyr Boat ] and utilizing the sun's rays, I made it invisible...something like that."
The [ Wood Elf ] blinked, "You've been reading human books aren't you?"
The [ Mermaid ] gave him a grin, "You call them books?"
The [ Wood Elf ] laughed, "Well if you wanted to have some coverage then you could have allowed me to just do this." He snapped his fingers.
The wind blew towards them, bringing in the clouds. "See? You don't have to think too hard about reflections or whatnot."
The [ Mermaid ] raised her hand out and felt the clouds pass through her fingers so quickly. It didn't exactly feel like cotton candy or something that people described it. She grinned but frowned as she saw all white. "Uhh… Mister [ Wood Elf ] are you the one steering this?"
"Don't worry, we're not going to hit—Ack!"
A bird hit the Elf in the head.
She stifled a giggle.
"Very funny, but besides that damned fowl, we won't encounter anything else. It'd be a bother if we hit a mountain…" The Elf spit out some feathers and moved his hands as some of the clouds dispersed in front of them. "We'll be in the City of Gloria in no time, but we'll stop a little bit away from it and make our way there."
The [ Mermaid ] smiled, "Thank you, I can't wait to meet up with the others and trade at last!"