Chapter 5

This business of trying to clean out these invaders from this community had turned out to be a bigger deal than I had expected. I asked Io, “Do you need to abandon this operation? I do not know the extent of your defensive protection, and I wonder how much longer you should be subjected to that kind of pressure. I know that eventually you will be able to handle it, but should we back off now?”

“Jim, I do not know how to say this without engendering bad feelings, but I think that our partnership is not right for me. When I suggested it, I had no idea the kind of demons and monsters that you routinely ran into. Yes, I feel like the current crop of enemies is just too much for me. I desperately want to get back to the hiring hall and sever our relationship. Surely, Pete can find someone more in tune with your capabilities.”

“Okay, I had about come to that same conclusion. You are good at what you can do, Io, but I think that you need more seasoning before you attempt to partner with someone who has as much experience as I do. I was a warrior before I joined the Hero Guild, so I am better able to face the stiff encounters that my level demands. Let us go back to that transporter station, and I will try to take us home.”

The relieved look on Io’s face told me all I needed to know about how much pressure I had dumped on her before she was ready. We went back to the portal and I transferred us back to Truth. We explained to Pete why we were home early, and he was sympathetic to Io’s problem. Our partnership was severed at that time, and the three of us went through the fanny packs to sort out what we had collected.

I split the money evenly with Io, and we did as much the same as we could with the other items that we had picked up. Wow, we had over a hundred emptied fanny packs to dispose of, but Pete said that he could handle that. He saved out 10 of them to have to hand out to Heroes in need, I kept a spare and so did Io, and the rest of the surplus fanny packs were dumped into the recycler. Those empty fanny packs would go to a Wizard who specialized in recycling who would salvage the magic spells before destroying the useless remains.

Each one of us picked up over $1,000 in gold, silver, and copper coins. Io was thrilled to have so much money for the first time, and I was happy to add my share to what I already had. One of the goodies we found was a large diamond that I took to go into the socket in my protective ring. That diamond was so valuable that I gave everything else to Io to use or to sell, whichever one was appropriate to her needs.

I took the diamond to John, the jeweler, to brag a little bit, but mostly to have him mount the diamond in the ring. I had tried, but the socket was too small to accept the diamond that I had, so I needed a jeweler to make the socket large enough to have my diamond fit.

John nearly fainted when he saw the size of the diamond that I had won in battle. “By the gods, Jim, this is the largest diamond that I have ever seen. Frankly, I did not even know that they came in this size. Give me the ring you want it mounted in, and I will be honored to adjust the socket. Wow, all you are going to have to do in any tavern is to show this diamond, and you will have all of the beer you can hold. Please do not let it go to your head!”

It took John about 40 minutes to craft a suitable mount for the diamond in the ring. He made an effort to show off the diamond, yet to keep the added mounting small enough that it would not interfere with me wearing it in combat. Furthermore, he refused to take any money for doing such a spectacular job. “Jim, just tell people who it was who did the mounting work for you, and you will quickly become a walking and talking advertisement for me worth far more than I could honestly charge you for what I did.”

“Thank you, John. I really appreciate the beautiful job you did with this diamond and the ring. I am so proud of this ring that I will be showing it wherever I go, and you will get full credit for the mounting. Thanks, again. I am off to Jake’s Tavern to start the advertising campaign for you.” We laughed as I walked out the door.

I must have looked too happy, because I was intercepted by a mugger before I got to Jake’s Tavern. “Okay, Buddy, give me whatever it is that has given you such a happy face! If you give me any trouble, that sharp point you feel pressing into your back will be the last thing that you feel.”

Ha, this was the perfect opportunity to enjoy my good luck. Just the effect of the magic charm on my leather armor would be enough to slow down the penetration of the knife. That would give me time to defend myself, but I wanted an opportunity to relish the protection imparted by the ring and the diamond that it held.

“Forget it, you unlucky bastard! I have enough protection that you cannot possibly harm me. Go ahead and stab if you want to try, but I will warn you now that you stand no chance against me.”

Well, I guess that the mugger figured that he had no choice; he tried to jam that blade into my right kidney. He might as well have tried to push it into a stone. The knife blade did move a tiny fraction of an inch before it froze in place. Actually, I wasn’t expecting that. I had figured that the knife would slide off my back and possibly cut the wielder, but I had not expected it to be locked where it was. The mugger gave a startled grunt, and I could not help laughing. I could feel him try to pull his knife back away from me, but it flatly refused to move!

At this time, I was in for another surprise. I whirled around in an effort to face the mugger, but he was not there. He was still holding on to the knife so tightly that the knife stayed where it was relative to my back, and that spun the mugger around as I moved. He smacked so hard into the wall of the building I was closest to that his neck was broken, and he fell to the ground at that point.

The knife also fell to the ground, and I picked it up for an examination. Hey, this knife was so close in design to my favorite Marine knife that I decided to keep it. I checked, and it was razor sharp and generally in perfect condition. Hell, I felt that I was paid for my trouble just by the value of the knife. I dropped it into my fanny pack and bent to examine the mugger.

Yeah, he was dead, all right. I checked him for other loot and found the sheath for the knife. It was a beautifully decorated piece of leather work and bore the logo of a Barbarian Hero. Damn, how did the mugger come by this? I also collected $27.46 from his pockets, but nothing from his moneybelt. Oh, well, I figured that I had come out well ahead in this little adventure and continued my stroll toward Jake’s Tavern.

I wasn’t sure that it was kosher to wear the knife sheath where others could see it, since I certainly did not qualify as a Hero, much less as a Barbarian, so I dropped the sheath into my fanny pack along with the knife. I would ask Pete’s opinion before I wore the sheath where others could see it, though the work was so beautifully done that I hated to cover it up.

I had the newly mounted diamond in the ring on my right hand. That was deliberate so that it would be easy to see. I am a right handed as it is possible to get, so I expected to be showing off the ring with its diamond setting many times during the day. Thus, Jake saw it as I reached to pay him for the beer he had drawn for me.

“By the gods, Jim, where did you find such a beautiful ring? I know that you are new to Isbardia, so I cannot figure how you got enough money to pay for such a ring.”

“There is quite a story behind this ring and the diamond, Jake. Would you like to hear it?”

“You are damned tooting that I would. Here is your money back for the beer. I will consider the story of how you got the ring and diamond as ample payment for the beer.” Several other patrons of the tavern heard this conversation, and they also gathered around to hear the story. After all, any story that was worth a free beer was worth hearing.

Telling the story of the day’s adventures took nearly an hour, and the first comment I heard from anybody was Jake saying, “It sounds to me like you must have run into the crook we called ‘Jinx.’ Eliminating him has done the town of Truth a great service, and you deserve that free beer.”

There was a lot of agreement with what Jake said, and I received three more beers before I had to call an end to the beer express. I was beginning to feel a little woozy from more beer than I have drunk at one time in more than a dozen years. Back in high school at a “boys’ night out,” I once drank five cans of beer and was shot for the rest of the evening and most of the following day. Besides, I was hungry, so I was off to eat some supper in Truth’s best restaurant. “I have to go out tomorrow, and I will need a sure brain for that, so I will not be back tonight. Good night, everybody.”

I was on my way to the restaurant when I heard a hail behind me. “Hey, Jim, wait up a minute ... I just heard that you have taken care of the mugger called Jinx, and I wanted to congratulate you on that. So far as I know, you are the first man to do that. Good for you.”

“Thanks, Bill. I haven’t seen you since that first day I showed up here looking for a job. What is new with you?”

“Not much, but I have been promoted to apprentice level #2 as a Monk, so I have made a little progress. I see that you are wearing the badge of an apprentice level #5, so I guess that you have done well for yourself.”

“Yeah, I have been unforgivably lucky on my missions. Come on and have supper with me. We can trade lies over a good meal.”

“I will be very happy to join you for supper if you will let me buy it. I was hit by Jinx about a month ago, and I feel like I owe something to the Hero who was able to put him out of the mugging business.”

We had an excellent meal, including dessert, and I had just told Jim about my experiences with Io. I was lamenting losing a partner, and he volunteered to join me on my assignment tomorrow. That sounded good to me, and I made an appointment with him to meet at the hiring hall at 6:00 AM. Pete knew that Io and I had broken up and why, so he would not be surprised that I wanted to team up with a Monk.