Chapter 2

“How do I find out exactly how much the ring can do for my killing ability?”

Pete looked like he expected me to ask that question. “Go back up the street and cross it. There is a reputable jeweler there that I send most of my people to for honest answers and fair prices. Wear your Monk outfit, and John Pearly will know that I sent you.”

Bill was a curious as I was about the ring, so he went with me to the jeweler. I introduced myself as an apprentice Monk and asked John to tell me of the ring’s value. “Sure, Jim, let me see the ring ... By the gods, you have a real winner here. The ring can boost your killing ability against demons and monsters by a factor of six. How did you get it? I cannot wait to hear the story.”

My story was kind of an anticlimax, since no fighting was involved. Oh, well, maybe I will have more to relate the next time. “John, do you have something that I can use that I can afford?”

“That depends on how much you have to spend. I have a more powerful turquoise gem for $240. How about that?”

“No, all I have right now is just barely over $100, so I will have to come back later.”

“I do have an amulet which will go a long way to protect you from fire spells. It should be very valuable with your other turquoise gem set in it. Otherwise, I do not have anything that I can recommend right now. That amulet will cost you $1,343.”

“Ouch! Okay, I may be back when I have enough money.”

John said, “Okay, Jim, hurry back when you need something. How about you, Bill? Can I help you with something?”

“No, I am afraid not. I did not have as productive a day as Jim had. I will have to come back later.”

We walked out of the shop, and Bill said, “I have some boots I want to sell. Stop off at the general store with me and then we can pick up that beer.”

The clerk at the general store refused to take the boots because they did not have any magic properties. Bill really looked bad after that rejection of something he had higher hopes for, so I said, “Dammit, Bill, I am sick of walking around without protection for my feet. I will give you $5 for the boots if they will fit me.” It turned out that the boots self-adjusted to fit me, so I gladly gave Bill the $5 that he wanted. That was mostly a goodwill gesture on my part, but I hated to see Bill feeling so low. He was happy enough to buy the first round of beers with some of that $5.

We ate supper at a popular restaurant for a reasonable price, and that was when I asked Bill if he knew of a bedroom that I could rent. “I know of a place better than that. Come on with me to the livery stable. I sleep on a pile of straw for 2¢ a night, and there are no bedbugs to fight with.” That sounded very good to me, so I took Bill up on the suggestion. There were already a couple of people making use of the straw beds, and one of them was a woman. I figured that if there was a woman there, I could take the chance on the bed.

I noticed that the woman was dressed in a fancy robe and was surrounded by a glowing envelope. Bill said, “For gods’ sake, do not touch that glowing envelope. She must be a Wizard, and they know some potent magic. I do not know what the glow will do to a man, but I sure as hell do not want to find out!”

We laughed at that, and I agreed with him. I pulled off my boots and lay down. I was asleep in only minutes. I was undisturbed during the night and felt great the next morning, so Bill and I went off to find some breakfast. It was barely daylight, and Bill commented on how late we had slept, so I didn’t know what to expect for tomorrow morning. Oh, well...

We went to the hiring hall for our next assignment. Pete said, “Too bad the rules say that level #1 apprentices must go on assignment solo, or I would send you two together. Maybe later, but not now.”

Bill took the news philosophically, but I was kind of surprised by that rule. Hell, we could learn from each other. I had learned of the buddy system during my Marine training, but I did not want to get fired on only my second day, so I did not argue with Pete.

This time, I was transported to a well used road running through a forest. Pete had warned me that this was going to be a stronger test than yesterday, which had been a sort of breaking in situation. This time it was for real, and there were no longer going to be easy marks. Ha, I didn’t think that monster throwing spears was such an easy assignment.

I had hardly gone 30 feet when I was attacked by three demons dressed in red uniforms and carrying swords. These demons were no more than about three feet tall, and they were carrying knives. Okay, it was not the first time I had fought men with knives, and I had faced five on one occasion, so I was confident when the little demons charged at me with what had to be a war cry designed to send shivers down my back. Well, I was not perturbed by the shouts.

I had the stabbing spear in my left hand and my knuckle duster in my right. My intention was to use the spear somewhat like a shield while expending most of my effort with the knuckle duster. Needless to say, I was depending on the ring to give me a healthy advantage on top of my MMA training and Marine experience.

The little demons were not very intelligent about their attack. I guess that they were depending on there being three of them and only one of me. Well, they were kind of strung out and not attacking in an organized manner, so I just concentrated on the first one to reach me.

He ran at me with his arm extended as if he expected to gut me with his first effort. I had no idea how strong these little creatures might be, so I was not going to take any chances. My idea was to block the charge by hitting the demon’s arm with the spear while hitting him in the head with my knuckle duster.

Somehow I had turned the spear so that the cutting edge was aimed at the extended arm. How much did the ring have to do with that. Well, the result was that I cut the demon’s arm off at the elbow as I hit him hard enough on the side of the head to crush his skull. The body went flying under the influence of my strengthened blow, and he was no longer a factor in the fight.

The next demon showed up right behind the first one, but I had time to see what my stabbing spear would do as a swinging blade. The result was that I removed the head from demon number two with just a flick of my wrist. I even cut through his spinal cord so that I removed his head completely.

The third demon may have been a little smarter than his companions because he did not charge directly toward me, but tried to slip up on my left side where I had the spear. Of necessity, the spear moved noticeably slower than did my right fist, but I was able to hit him in the chest on the breastbone. My fist went through that bone almost like it was not there, and the third demon was dead probably before he fully realized what had happened.

Well, I was very happy with my efforts, but I did attribute a lot of the success to the ring. I went through the pockets, the moneybelts, and the fanny packs and came up with $87 in gold and silver. The fanny packs also produced two rings, but I knew nothing about them, so I did not put them on. Other than that, there was nothing that I could use.

I cleaned up the site as best I could and resumed my walk down the road. It seemed to me that I was not as tired as I should be after that effort, and I was not breathing heavily, so something was giving a boost to my stamina. Could it be the ring. I would ask Pete about that when I punched out this evening.

I had walked about 150 yards farther down the road when I heard the pounding of hooves behind me. I looked behind me and I saw some sort of beast charging at me. My first reaction was that it was an American buffalo, but the horns were much larger than I had seen in zoos. The creature charged so fast that I did not have time to put up a defense. I did the only thing that I could and jumped straight up just as the creature got to me.

That was not an offensive move, but was purely defensive. That thing was so huge that I would surely be dead if it had crashed into me. As it was, I managed to jump over the creature and land on my feet in the road behind the monster. It didn’t wait long to slow down and turn around. It began pawing the ground and bellowing as if it were going to eliminate me with the volume of sound that it was emitting.

I guess that it was showing off to intimidate me, but I did not wait for that. Instead, the moment the creature started bellowing at me, I charged at it with as much speed as I could gather. Oh, my God, I had never run that fast before! I was going something over 25 MPH (Miles per Hour) when I ran into the beast. I had extended my hand with the knuckle duster held as tightly as was possible, and I crashed the knuckle duster into the beast’s head just above the line of its eyes.

Wow, the knuckle duster disappeared into the beast’s head as the skull was crushed. In fact, I could feel broken bone rubbing against my hand as I pulled my hand back. Man, what a mess! My fist was covered with blood and brains, and the dead creature lay at my feet. I almost vomited at the mess on my hand, but I got control of myself and spotted a small stream running beside the road. I washed off my hand and the knuckle duster, and thanked the ring for what it had done for me. I was absolutely certain that the ring had made my victory possible. Hell, it had saved my life!

Dammit, I could not see how I was going to make an economic profit from this kill. I wondered if the skin had any value. That was something else that I needed to ask Pete. Fortunately, the beast had fallen off the road when it died because it was so large that I could never have moved it off the road by myself. I was always thankful for small favors, but this one was not so small.

That was the last of my adventures until after lunch. I ate a sandwich and drank some watered wine for my lunch before resuming my trek down the road. I couldn’t help wondering what I was going to meet next.

Well, the next enemy I met was something that I could have gratefully avoided for the rest of my life. The next demon I met was truly a demon, at least in smell. It was a humanoid creature, but it must have weighed as much as that buffalo that I had fought in the morning. The thing was at least eight feet tall and must have weighed over 900 pounds.