A Day in Town

The mailbox catches my eye before anything else, the little icon lit up next to the flag, and I remember it's just past six in the morning, which means the morning mail run has come through. My friend Jen sent me a note, folded into stationery with a new enhanced copper axe tucked inside, and I read it standing in my own doorway on the porch I put up last week.  I haven’t added the extra windows, but the porch alone already makes the place feel like somewhere I chose rather than somewhere I was assigned.

There's tilled land from two days ago waiting on my plot, so I go water what's coming up and activate the hoe on my hotbar to break a new row while I'm there. Since I’m not in a hurry, I amble over to the neighbor’s plot and weed and water those too on my way past. I can't harvest their plants, only the person who staked it can do that, but nobody minds an extra set of hands pulling weeds, and it saves the owner a trip later.

The river runs along the north edge of town, past the last row of houses, and that's where I go to try the rod I picked up my first week. I cast, wait, watch the meter for the telltale twitch, and miss the first bite entirely, the line going slack before I can react. The second cast lands better. I get the timing right on the reel and pull in a big, tasty looking salmon, so I drop it in my bag and keep walking.

What I actually want out of today is enough time on an adventure to push my mining past the next threshold. I've been carrying ore back from every run for a week without paying much attention to the number ticking up behind it, and I'm close enough now that one more good haul should raise my mining skill enough that I can open the Gem tree.  Because everyone loves gems!

Before I get there, I swing through Town Hall to wrap something for Dak. He mentioned offhand that he missed the taste of the Barberries that only grow in the forest biome, and I've been sitting on a handful since my last run for him. The wrapping station lets me pick paper he might actually like instead of whatever's fastest, and I tuck a short note in with it before dropping it in the mailbox.

At the Gate, since the in-game Discord invite system says no one’s logged in, I hit the Call Box. Groghan's been through enough with me at this point that she's willing to come adventuring with me, and she falls in step as the portal opens.

Two rooms in, we run into a pair of Adult Vinebiters that decide they'd rather focus Groghan than split their attention, and she plants herself between them and takes the hits while I circle wide. It buys me enough time to charge up my attack instead of trading pokes with them, and I bring the first one down just as Groghan goes under from the second. The room isn't clear yet, so I finish the fight alone, and the moment the last Vinebiter drops, she's back on her feet like nothing happened, ready for the next door. Wow, she’s tough!  Once we clear the dungeon, we head back, making a mental note to tell Jen that the Forest Forageable room is unlocked so she doesn’t have to fight before collecting more resources for her next creation.

Back in town, I've got enough ore and stones to justify a proper session at the smelter, so I queue up three jobs in a row. While that runs, I head for the decorating sign near Town Hall and finally move the bench that's been sitting crooked at the corner of the square for a week. It's not my bench and I didn't place it, but if someone minds, they can put it back where they liked it better.

On the way back to collect my ingots, I pass my Trade Table and notice the off-color dagger I priced a little high, mostly out of curiosity, is gone, sold to someone over the last day or two. I set a rug I finished on the Loom out in its place, hoping someone buys it because I need the bits.

By the time I'm walking home, the light's gone long across the square, but the afternoon mail hasn't arrived yet, but I'm content with my ingots, extra bits, and that fish I caught.  After all, Groghan's already asked, without quite asking, whether we're going back out tomorrow.

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