Chapter 16: You owe me now
The girl blinked at him as if snapping out of a daze. She nodded slowly, then furiously, her messy ponytail bouncing with the motion. "Y-yeah. I mean... no. I mean—thank you!" she stammered, clutching her satchel tighter like it was a shield. "I thought I was dead for sure. Those snakes—ugh! I hate snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?!"
Damon chuckled. "Could've been worse. Could've been spiders." That earned a sharp gasp from her, and he smirked. "Name's Blood God. You?"
Her eyes widened. For a moment, he thought she was going to laugh at his face, but the girl looked impressed instead. "N-nice name." She nodded quickly. "I am Arya."
Damon smiled. She looked like a good girl and was very timid. There was no way she could be that Arya. "Alright. Nice meeting you. You should get out of here. Level up a little bit and then come back, maybe."
He did not have all day to waste on a random stranger, so he decided to get back to his business. A couple feet away from him, he spotted the first Mistleaf and instantly turned his attention to it.
The silvery-blue herb shimmered faintly in the dim light filtering through the canopy—delicate, feathered leaves curled in on themselves as if shy. Damon crouched beside it and carefully plucked the herb, making sure not to damage the roots.
Another notification pinged softly in the corner of his vision.
[Ding! You have acquired Mistleaf (Unprocessed).]
"Perfect," he muttered. "One step closer to that regen potion recipe." His mind was already calculating how many of each herb he'd need.
Behind him, Arya hadn't moved. Damon glanced back and frowned slightly. "Didn't I say to get going? I will not be able to help you again." He made it clear to her.
"I... I... please help me. I need that." Arya pointed to the herb Damon was holding. "I have an alchemy quest. Please help me. I can pay you for the herb. Please."
Damon blinked. That was unexpected. Alchemy? That too so soon in the game? Too much of a coincidence.
He looked down at the Mistleaf in his hand, then back at the girl. Arya stood stiffly, like a deer about to bolt, but her eyes didn't waver. She clutched the edge of her shirt tightly and stared at him as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
How could this girl possibly be that ruthless alchemy genius? Yet, he couldn't simply ignore the hints in front of him. "Fine." Damon agreed with her in the end. Having a good trading relationship with an alchemist wouldn't hurt.
"Why don't you step back from the snake pond territory and wait for me. I will get you the Mistleaf you need. In return, I am going to need something from you. Is that okay?"
Arya blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting him to agree. Her lips parted, then curled up into a grateful smile, all nerves and relief. "Yes! Yes, of course! Anything. I mean—not anything, anything—but yes!"
She took a clumsy step back and nearly tripped over her own foot before catching herself. "I'll wait over there." She pointed to a mossy rock several feet from the treeline, well away from the snake-infested brush.
Damon watched her retreat, head tilted. He couldn't wrap his mind around it.
The Arya he knew from his past life had been infamous across forums—cold, methodical, terrifyingly efficient. She never showed her face or even used voice chat. She'd tanked entire economies with a spreadsheet and a smirk emoji.
This girl? This jittery, bunny-eared bundle of nerves who flinched at snakes and nearly fainted at the mention of spiders? She looked like she'd apologize to a mob before killing it.
Still... coincidence was rarely just coincidence in Earth Online.
Damon turned back to the pond and scanned for more Mistleaf, eyes narrowing. Arya aside. He had a lot to take care of. He spent the next hour feasting on snake blood and picking herbs here and there.
Soon, he got a new notification.
[Minor Venom Resistance (Lv. 2): Poison damage reduced by 25%.]
Damon nodded in satisfaction and cleaned up a little before heading back to the timid girl.
Arya was exactly where he'd left her—perched on the mossy rock like an anxious squirrel, feet swinging, eyes darting at every sound from the bushes. When she saw him approach, her shoulders straightened, and a nervous smile bloomed across her face. "You're back! I mean, obviously you're back, but... thank you!"
Damon handed her the bundle of freshly picked herbs.
Arya accepted the bundle like it was some sacred artifact, her hands trembling as she cradled the Mistleaf against her chest. "You have no idea how much this helps," she whispered, eyes wide and gleaming with a mixture of awe and pure relief. "I... I was never good at combat. My quest tracker said this was the only place to find it, but I didn't think the snakes would be that aggressive."
"Earth Online doesn't give handouts," Damon said, folding his arms. "And you owe me now."
She nodded quickly. "Yes! Of course. Can I pay you in coins?"
Damon shook his head. "There is no need for coins. Do you have a cauldron with you?"
"A cauldron?" Arya opened her mouth in confusion.
"You can exchange a cauldron for these herbs." Damon smiled.
"Ah, ok." The girl still looked confused. She put her hand inside the satchel she was holding and then glanced at Damon once before pulling out a starter cauldron from within it.
A spatial pouch! The satchel was a spatial pouch!
It was not as good as his ring, but this girl already had a spatial pouch! Yet another hint that she was not a normal player.
Arya bit her lips and handed the cauldron to Damon, but the next second, she immediately retracted her hand. "I am sorry. This is not fair to you. I only have the starter cauldron, which costs 10 copper. You risked your life for me. You should just take this satchel and the cauldron." She put the cauldron back in the pouch and, to his surprise, just handed him the whole thing.