Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 33

"Alright, I'm done." He turned around after hearing her voice to see her wearing a deep red shirt that laced up to just below her neck. A black skirt fluttered in the breeze just above her knees. Her normal boots were replaced with what looked to be hiking boots.

"That's perfect Jemza. Sorry about the sudden request I just don't want to screw this up."

"I know, and it's a good idea. You really didn't peek huh?" Jayce put a hand over his heart and held his other up in front of her.

"I swear I didn't." He was being honest about it. Cheap thrills of stealing a look at her while she changed not only threatened his life, but also went against his respect for her. She smiled patting him on the shoulder as she walked by.

"Hmm. Cause I did." She kept walking south towards Marome leaving him standing with his mouth half open. He shook his head and caught up to her as they continued along the road.

"After this when we go back to Urbus we should also look into upgrading our weapons. We are still only using the base versions of them. We could find a smith and bump them up a few levels. We don't know what's ahead so we should be ready." Jemza listened to him nodding and chuckled lightly as he finished.

"You are really thinking hard about all this aren't you? I'm impressed."

"I just don't want any surprises."

Marome was a small village, as they had anticipated. There didn't even seem to be a smith on site. The buildings that comprised the village were all single story dwellings. The only buildings that were slightly larger looked to be stables or housing for animals. The NPC's who lived in this town all moved about working on various tasks. Some pinned clothing or large sheets to a clothesline to dry while others chopped wood or pushed carts of supplies.

"Afternoon folks." A man pushing a wheelbarrow full of a variety of plants tipped his hat as Jayce and Jemza came close.

"Afternoon sir. Sorry, but what are those?" Jayce looked down into the wheelbarrow and the man set it down taking a few of the plants out and holding them up.

"There's a few herbs and plants that grow outside of town. They work well in poultices and medicine in Urbus so we send them up north." Jayce's eyes seemed to sparkle looking at the plants the man held.

"I don't suppose I could buy some off of you could I?" The man set the plants back into the wheelbarrow laughing.

"Ah, so you're an alchemist eh? Sure, what are you looking for exactly?"

"Great, anything that helps with illnesses, injuries, or mental conditions would be fantastic." Jayce glanced back at Jemza excitedly who put on a smile for his sake. She had no idea what they were talking about, but if he was happy then whatever.

"Here, these and these should work for you. Be careful with the red ones, if you crush them too fast they won't powder properly." A trade window winked into view with a cost associated to the items being offered. Jayce quickly accepted the trade seeing that the cost was less than what the vendor offered in Urbus.

"Thank you very much I appreciate it." The man smiled tipping his hat once more.

"My pleasure, Marome is small, but there's a certain charm to our small home. I assume you and your wife are passing through, but consider staying a bit. We do enjoy visitors and not many come by due to our size." Jemza laughed and opened her mouth, but Jayce quickly stepped in to interrupt her.

"We will. A good friend of ours lives here these days I believe. His name is Kurt Wagner and we were hoping to catch him before we moved on." Jemza took a step back watching curiously as Jayce continued to take the lead.