Chapter 8: 8: Advantageous Inventory

When he finished laughing, the elven wizard sobered his expression and said seriously, "Of course not, at worst it will turn you into a housecat."

Danika stared for a long moment, before asking cautiously, "How long will it take for my energy to replenish if I don't eat?" 

The wizard answered cheerfully, "If you stay very still, maybe two bells at your current level?"

Half an hour, Danika glanced at the goat who was already looking more alert, it was too long. Remembering the blacksmith's chiding she asked the wizard, "Can you help me get the goat out of your garden and back to the farmer?" 

The wizard said, "I could teach you the spell that I cast on the apple, and it might help you do that? But I can only teach you one, and you need to have mastered a cantrip before you can learn it." 

Danika frowned in thought. She was starting to wonder if every NPC had a special skill that they could teach, if you met the prerequisite. The goat, temporarily ignored, climbed to its feet, and approached the apple.

Danika quickly tapped her wrist and stuffed the apple into her inventory. The apple was very light. She activated her wings and flew upwards far enough that she was looking down at the goat, but not more than eye level with the wizard. "How long will the spell on the apple last?" she asked.

"About a minute per casting level, so hmm… about 15 minutes more," he replied cheerfully.

Danika pulled the apple back out of her inventory. She wobbled, but didn't fall as she held it. The apple was as light as a feather, but still about as big as she was.

The goat looked up at her attentively. Danika flew toward the wall, the goat eyed her for a moment, and then moved closer with a few bouncing steps. Suddenly, it leapt straight onto the top of the wall, cutting her off, and balanced as neatly as any bird landing on a branch.

Danika almost dropped the apple in shock, and the wizard snickered and advised, "You'd better fly higher, and quickly."

Danika said, "Thanks," and zipped up and over the goat and out along the path back toward the farmer's place. Everytime she craned her head backward to look at the goat, it was chasing quite nimbly. It was also still green with pink patches.

When she flew over the bridge that crossed the stream, she lost the goat's attention. The goat detoured down to the water and drank thirstily. Danika flew closer, and asked, "Hey, goat, did you forget that you wanted this?"

The goat blinked at her, and kept drinking. Danika edged a little closer with the apple, and suddenly the goat lifted its head and snapped at the apple. Danika barely zipped upward fast enough to evade its bite. 

The goat bleated a complaint.

"Sorry, but I need to get you home," Danika replied. "Come on goat." She tried to sound coaxing and told it, "come this way," as she edged along the path.

The goat followed her a little ways farther, before it stopped at a rose hedge bordering the path. Danika groaned and complained, "I know people say you should take time to stop and smell the roses, but I will run out of time!" 

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The goat ignored her, and nibbled delicately at the roses. 

Danika supposed that it was rather impressive that the VR-medi pod could let her smell the roses faintly. She wondered briefly if it would also trigger some people's allergies. She glared at the goat for a moment.

The goat looked smug somehow as Danika edged closer with the apple. Suddenly, Danika flew farther away, let go of the apple, which started drifting toward the ground, and tapped open her inventory.  

The goat eyed the falling apple as it chewed its latest mouthful of roses. After a moment it darted forward, toward the drifting apple. Danika zipped downward and snatched the apple back into her inventory, just in time.

She flew farther down the path and pulled the apple back out of her inventory. This time she tried throwing it ahead of her down the path.  

Danika and the goat moved slowly toward the farmer's place in an ongoing contest to see if Danika could recover the falling apple before the goat reached it. So far, she was winning. 

They were almost to their destination, when the wizard's spell wore off. Danika fell like a stone, as she withdrew the apple from her inventory again. She hastily stuffed it back in, and her wings lifted her back into the air. Her ring obviously stored things somewhere else. 

The goat stared at her with interest, at this alteration to the apple game.

Danika flew a little farther down the path, the goat waited. She dropped to the ground and set the apple down. The goat eyed her with suspicion, but moved forward. Danika picked up the apple and ran as quickly as she could on her hind legs, toward the farmer's place. When the goat got too close she stuffed the apple back into her inventory and flew forward.

The goat glared at Danika when they arrived at last. The farmer called out from where she rested on the porch in the gently flowerlit night, "Good work! Now get into your pen Rosy." After a moment, the goat jumped neatly over the fence into its pen.

The goat turned and bleated at Danika. It waited expectantly. Danika reached to pull the apple back out of her inventory, and hesitated. The goat was already green with pink blotches, what if it really turned into a housecat if it ate the apple?

The farmer looked at her goat and commented dryly, "It's a good thing we didn't insist that you bring back a black goat, but at least she's still a goat." She added tolerantly, "It'll wear off as usual." She turned to Danika and said kindly, "Come into the kitchen and I'll give you the meal I promised before I head to bed." 

The goat, Rosy, bleated loudly, and the farmer laughed. She snatched a carrot out of a pail beside the door and tossed it out the door and over the fence, to the goat. Rosy snatched the carrot out of the air, and crunched it down, while staring at Danika reprovingly.

Danika left the apple in her inventory and followed the farmer. She was given a small loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese as her promised meal.  

Danika pulled up her menu curiously before eating anything, her health was full, and her energy was about ⅙ full. She watched the meter as she ate a chunk of the cheese wedge, and her energy bar did rise slowly. It kept rising at the same rate for awhile after she stopped eating.

When it slowed again, her energy was about ¾ full, just from the one small chunk of cheese. Danika nibbled a little more, and then stowed the rest in her inventory. About the time she finished, her work alarm notification popped up, and she logged out so that she wouldn't be late for her shift.

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