With uncertainty regarding future opportunities, we decided to take the ship to Nobost. It would mean about a month of travel down the coast if we went by foot to get from Nobost to Phalladri. Hatterion would be roughly at the halfway point, but without knowing whether there’d actually be a ship, none of us wanted to take the risk.

The other possibility would be to take the ship to Nobost and look for connections from there, as the Naga ships were stupidly fast, especially the large ones. I had asked Wavespeaker Kelartis and she had told me that the crossing would only take about a week, due to limited weather influence. That seemed utterly insane to me, to cross a distance we’d need two months to cross within a week. But then, the ship didn’t need to sleep or rest, they could forge ahead at full speed, hidden from sea monsters by their magic and the ship certainly didn’t need to take the road into account. Though, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was set up that way to allow Travellers to move from one continent to another with relatively little down-time, as months of enforced ingame down-time would likely be a no-go for a lot of players.

Alas, a week was quite some time to be stuck on a ship, but really, it wouldn’t be too bad.

As I thought about it, I began to mentally compile another report for Pantheon, Entertainment regarding travelling. The extreme limitations on intercontinental travel would likely be a stumbling block for players, the whole travelling was incredibly cumbersome. On one hand, it made the world feel alive, with countless inhabitants and potentially interesting things around every corner. On the other hand, it meant that if you wanted to play with your friends, it might take months, or even years, to meet up if your starting locations were too far apart.

Maybe, Pantheon should look for a middle path, where the whole world was relevant and interesting, without making players travel for months on end to get from spot A to spot B. Immersion versus convenience, the current system was completely on the side of immersion, which might deter some players.

Pushing away those considerations, for later compilation, I focused on our surroundings, where Adra was talking to Kelartis, making an agreement regarding our passage to Nobost. It would take a chunk of our hard-earned coin, but that was somewhat expected. Boarding would be in five days, early in the morning, as the ship would be sailing with the tide. That meant we had those days open, with nothing pressing to do.

I considered looking for quests in Torop, or even for Travellers who frequented the port, but really, I had little interest in some urban fetch quests. While I had no doubt that there would be other types of quests as well, some sort of investigation or maybe even ones that required a direct and violet resolution, trying to navigate the laws and customs regarding them sounded like a pain in the behind that I would rather not deal with.

Instead, I decided to leave Mundus for a time, stashing my body in my Hallow and dealing with the various chores and obligations that had piled up in the real world. On my list were such wonderful things like thoroughly cleaning my apartment, taking care of some errands and other exciting things. But with the time I had, there was even the option of visiting Mrs Wu for an additional session, going for a long walk in the park and giving Chris a call, he had been suggesting meeting for dinner.

My first call went to Mrs Wu, who happily suggested meeting up during the afternoon. Contrary to our normal practice, she suggested meeting at a shopping centre near their gym, an alteration to our usual routine that made me curious. Some of the lessons she had given me had been regarding blending into a crowd and moving within one, but I wasn’t quite sure I actually wanted to put them into practice. It wasn’t as if I actually wanted to put those lessons into practice, certainly not outside of Mundus. And within Road to Purgatory, I was using the skills she taught me less and less, as my magic was taking priority. Alas, she was teaching me something interesting and learning it wouldn’t be a disadvantage. Once that call was taken care of, it was time for a dreaded aspect of life, social interactions outside of a rigidly defined setting. In other words, freely socialising with friends.

After finding Chris’ number, I sent him a message that my schedule was unexpectedly cleared and I would be open for the dinner he had suggested. I had previously declined but given my Mother’s teaching about the maintenance of friendships, I felt that an effort should be made, His reply came surprisingly quick and within a minute of sending the message, my phone rang with his number.

“Yes?” I picked up, curious why he called instead of sending a message back.

“Who is this?” a female voice asked, momentarily confusing me. The display had given Chris’ number, so why was a woman calling back?

“Shouldn’t I be asking that?” I retorted, just a little amused, “This is Samantha, now it’s your turn.” I added, trying to place the voice. Sadly, I was bad with those, so other than it being female and a little sharp, I wasn’t sure.

“Samantha? That…” the voice paused, and I heard a soft noise in the background, “This is Jenn, Chris’ wife.” she told me and finally, the penny dropped with a chiming sound, giving me the context I needed.

“Ah, Jenn, yes. We’ve met a while back, at the park. How are you? How’s the baby?” I asked, frantically trying to come up with a sensible way to continue the conversation.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence on the other end. It stretched a little but finally, she replied after a brief sigh.

“So it’s you. I’m feeling well, thanks for your concern. Why did you suggest meeting my husband for dinner?” she asked, a weird emphasis on the word ‘husband’.

“He invited me a few weeks ago, but I was a little busy. Now, my schedule has mostly cleared up, so I thought to give him a word. When would it be good for you?” I replied, curious if Chris had told her about it. He should have, given that she was his wife, I’d expect any dinner invitation to include her.

There was another silence but this time, it didn’t last long enough to turn awkward.

“I see.” I could almost hear the frown in her reply, “Let me take a glance at his calendar, I think he should be free tomorrow evening. Would that work for you?” she asked, and I briefly did the calculations of what time that would be in Mundus.

“That would work.” I briefly paused, considering my next words carefully before deciding to go for simple honesty. “I’m afraid I don’t know just how restrictive your pregnancy is. Are you comfortable visiting a restaurant? Any special considerations I should be mindful of?” I asked, trying not to be rude while asking about fairly intimate topics.

There was a brief chuckle on the other end and it seemed that the ice had broken, as her voice suddenly gained a bit of warmth.

“I’ll admit, I’d rather avoid a restaurant.” she paused for a moment, before continuing, “Are you a good cook?” she asked in a non-sequitur.

“I’d consider myself a fair cook, why?” I asked, only to realise the answer, “If you like, I could come over tomorrow and prepare dinner at your place. That would be easiest for you, wouldn’t it?” I suggested, trying to navigate the bounds of propriety and decorum. Sometimes, those could be a pain.

“If that would work for you, I would appreciate it.” she admitted, “We’ve got a few dietary restrictions, what did you have in mind for the menu?”

For the next couple of minutes, we discussed their preferences and restrictions, making sure that the food I had planned would be suitable. I wasn’t planning anything fancy, just a classic dish of stir-fried vegetables, chicken and rice, with a mildly spicy sauce. Some might even call it boring, but given that Jenn was pregnant, stimulating her too much might be a bad idea.

“Why don’t you come over around six? Chris should be home around seven, that way, dinner would be ready then,” she suggested, once everything was ironed out.

“That works for me, yes.” I agreed, “I’m looking forward to meeting you again:”

“Yes, it’s been nice talking to you.” she replied, “See you tomorrow.”

We both said our goodbyes and I put down the phone, feeling good about myself. If that wasn’t an effort to re-establish and maintain a friendship I had let slide over the years, I didn’t know what would be.

Sadly, before that, I still had a bunch of chores to do in my own apartment. Letting out a sigh, I got out the vacuum, to take care of another thing I had let slide for a little too long.