"The Golga is a medium hadrosaur mob, commonly found in early-to-mid game zones. Easily recognizable by its broad, duck-billed snout and bulky frame, this docile herbivore is one of the most reliable pack animals available to players until they can access the Northern Wilds or purchase guild-produced mounts. The Golga excels in logistics roles, boasting one of the highest base carry-weight stats for a non-specialized mount, leading to its preferred use by merchant and crafting guilds for caravan runs."
Ai woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of someone sobbing outside hers and Sari's wagon. Ai had turned in a bit early—it was still early enough that Sari was working, so it was just Ai and Aru in the wagon.The sobbing came from a young man—a boy—and from the sound of it, he was young enough that his voice still cracked with every other sob.It had to be Laric, the caretaker of the Golga that had died during the bandit attack, who Sari had mentioned earlier. Of course he would be devastated after what had happened. Grief was a familiar animal to Ai as well, one that sat in her heart for years and had never left.Her parents' faces flashed in her mind's eye at the thought, a momentary reminder of what she had lost.Ai got up. She didn't know what she'd say, what she could even do, but she'd already begun moving and found that she couldn't stop. Aru woke up and yipped happily as she landed on the ground with a quiet thump, trotting alongside her.Laric sat on the ground, his knees tucked into his chest and looking utterly dejected. His body seemed to shudder every few seconds.He noticed Ai approaching before she could even say hello."Oh, Lady Ayle! I… I'm sorry, I didn't expect…" He began to stand as she came closer, but she waved him off."No, no, it's alright," Ai began. There was an awful pause. She still didn't know what to say, which was a rare occurrence for her. There was always a role to play, a function to fulfil, a strategy to execute. She'd moved without thinking, without figuring out a plan, and—Aru huffed at her incompetence and walked past her, thwacking his feathered tail at her thigh as he did. The lizard-dog pushed his own fuzzy body into Laric's, nudging at one of his hands so that he'd start scratching.At that, the floodgates broke. Laric gasped, overcome by his grief, burying his face into Aru's body. Aru nestled into him in return, demanding that the boy scratch behind that one spot behind his ears. Laric, for his part, obliged, despite shuddering with every sob that wracked his frame.Several minutes later, Laric had finally stopped sobbing, or at least had stopped crying uncontrollably. Ai sat down next to him while he calmed himself down and he was still hugging Aru tightly, idly patting the lizard-dog's back with his free hand."They're cuttin' her up right now." Laric said, staring into nothing."I didn't think that they'd have to do it now…" Ai responded awkwardly. She couldn't figure out what needed to be said - it was as if her mind had just stopped working right. Why had her thoughts ground to a halt?"We hafta do it on the same day, everything's fresh so we don't waste nuthin' we don't have to. And Karravar Benessel says we only get tonight to do it anyway." Laric said despondently."...You don't seem okay with all this," Ai noted, "I mean, are you?""We can fend off a wyrm or two if we have to, but the blood's gonna attract more if we don't do it tonight." Laric responded in a nonsequitur, as if reciting something from memory.Another moment passed between them."I want Beaky back," Laric finally said, his grip around Aru tightening as he did, "But it's our way. The Soldier's Way. It has to be done now. And we can't waste a single bit of 'er.""Tell me something about her," Ai quietly asked, thinking of her parents. They were her only family, her grandparents having passed away long before she was born. After Mom and Dad died one after the other, she had been utterly alone, the only person in the world who remembered her family as they had been.Laric looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed and hollow, startled by the quiet request. For a moment, he just stared, clearly pained. He took a shaky breath, his gaze drifting back to the partition, to the grim, rhythmic sounds of work from behind it."She… she was a right terror when she was a calf," he began, a ghost of a smile touching his lips before quickly vanishing. "Hatched from an egg we brought with us from Balir. Stubbornest thing you ever saw. Wouldn't eat the standard feed we gave the others if she could avoid it, only really liked the purple-flowered scrub that grows out by the western ridge."He shook his head, lost in the memory. "Had to sneak out to pick it for her every other day. My Captain near had my hide for it, said I was spoilin' her. But she knew. She'd wait for me by the pen, and she'd only eat if I fed her by hand. Made this little happy sound. Still makes it, just a lot bigger. Well. Made it…"Aru, seemed to sense the shift in Laric's tone, and nudged his head under his hand again to demand another scratch."She was smart, too," Laric went on, his voice softening in fondness. "Knew the sound of my whistle from real far away, keen ears on her. Always seemed to know when I was sad. Used to nudge her head right under my arm and stand there like a great big rock for me to lean on. It gets quiet out on patrol, but Beaky was always there for me.""She was a good girl," he whispered, his voice cracking. His grip on Aru tightened again, his knuckles white, "The best girl."Ai continued to listen to Laric through the night as he recounted story after story about Beaky. Her thoughts raced, thinking back to her parents, to her guildmates, to [Stormold], even to Aru.Ai's Semblance was now ranked SSS. Reality could—would—bend itself to her very whims if she so chose.So why was Beaky dead? During the game, a single dead Golga wasn't a huge deal. But to Laric, Beaky had been everything.Ai thought about her own choices, about whether or not she should have - could have - saved Beaky. It had all happened in an instant. But she had waited, perhaps prioritizing the lives of people over what she saw as livestock. Over Beaky. There was no seamless quest generation feature to guide her anymore, no correct roleplay choice, no optimal path. Only her choices. Only her.She had the power. She might've been able to—would have been able to—save Beaky had she put her mind to it. Ai had remade the world in order to rejoin it. Now she had to live with the consequences.She had been operating as if she was still playing the role of Ayle of Berenna, clearing random encounters and saving NPCs. But she wasn't, not anymore. She was Ai Kanbara. She'd opened her door and stepped over her threshold, overcoming years of stagnant self-imprisonment. With her newfound, astronomical rise in Semblance, her only real limits were those she imposed on herself.Ai and Aru sat with Laric for the rest of the night.
Ai awoke to a heavenly aroma. It was a distinctively rich blend of spices - ginger, cinnamon, and pepper - and the unmistakable scent of freshly baked bread.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.She opened her eyes to see a rising sun, a beautiful orange glow setting the world ablaze.Aru sat between Laric's legs, happily gnawing on a big piece of bone that was the size of a baseball. A knuckle bone, and judging from the color it had been blanched before being given to Aru. Ai's mind made the connection - Beaky's knuckle.He stopped chewing for a moment, locking eyes with Ai, before giving a happy bark and going back to his bone.The entire caravan — about thirty people in total — gathered around a large clay pot that came up to Ai's chest, happily bubbling and clearly the source of the aroma that had woken her up. Beside it, men and women turned flatbreads over a heated stone, the dough puffing and charring in patches.Sari came out of their wagon, already dressed and ready for the day."Morning, Sari." Ai greeted her before asking, "What's cooking?""Um, good morning, Miss Ayle. It's a soldiers' stew." Sari explained, "In the Baliri style. A big cauldron of Golga meat and offal boiled in bone broth, lots of spices - zansem, shakor root, and dunis. Some salt and a dash of altil for flavor, thickened with whichever kalan flour they have on hand."Sari's explanation was a whorl of exotic and unfamiliar names.Ai was the most knowledgeable user of magic in the game, bar none. She knew all of the relevant lore, the mechanisms of the Ve'un, how to manipulate the divine, and more.She was a capable roleplayer, because you had to be if you wanted to be any good as a frontline Dirge player. But the only words Ai recognized were salt, bone broth, meat, and spice. What did it say that she had both the ability and the knowledge to change the world, but knew nothing of how these people lived?Benessel seemed to notice that Ai had woken up, and stuck his fingers in his mouth to issue a shrill whistle."We have a rough journey ahead of us." He said, looking around to meet everyone's eyes one by one."We will not stop at any of our planned layovers, but will instead take a direct path towards Outpost Avna. Even at top speed, it will take several days to get there." The caravaneers and guardsmen clearly already knew this, but nodded along."Thus, this meal will be our last moment of respite before a hard journey. The stew is made with the meat of our sister, Beaky the Golga, the parts of her that cannot be preserved or repurposed in the field. The organmeat, the tendons, the marrow. In this way, her strength becomes ours. Her life becomes ours, as is our way. Footman Laric!""Y.. yes, Karravar!" Laric jolted at Benessel's call."Stand.""Y… yes sir." Laric stood shakily, uncertainty filling his features.Benessel retrieved a wooden bowl that had been set down nearby and ladled it full of stew, before walking to him."Your platoon leader has informed me that you reared your Golga from an egg, and that she gave her life protecting you." Benessel said."Yes, sir," Laric confirmed, "Hatched over in Outpost Lohr and raised there, sir. She shielded me from that Orgawyr."Benessel nodded wordlessly. He handed the stew to Laric, who accepted it with shaking hands."Take it. The first bowl should be yours. Honor your Golga with your life, Laric. She lives through you now." Benessel then raised his fist to his forehead with a thump, causing the boy to widen his eyes in surprise - the gesture was usually reserved to signal deep, heartfelt respect.Ai watched as Laric brought the bowl up to his mouth, taking a deep sip of the stew made with the very life of his precious companion. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes, and he sniffled once, before raising his fist up to his forehead in return."Thank you, Karravar Benessel." Laric whispered.Benessel returned to the fire, ladling another bowl before raising his voice. "Ayle, please come forward!"Being called up took Ai by surprise, but she took it in stride. Local rituals like this were a dime a dozen during the game, but they always, always had significant importance to the NPCs who offered them. And these men were far from NPCs."Ayle. You saved not just my life, but my Aspirant's, and the lives of every person in this caravan. Please, eat before us. I regret that we cannot offer you a higher honor today." Benessel's tone was at once serious, gentle, and determined.Ai felt the eyes of everyone in the outpost watching her, waiting on her response. Ai's stomach growled. Aru chuffed in amusement, somewhere behind her. She took the bowl from Benessel's hands."Thank you, Karravar. The honor is mine." She raised the bowl to her lips and took her first bite in this new world.It was the best thing she'd had in years. At least since before her parents had passed.Beaky's stew was rich, complex, and intense. It was aromatic and flavorful, a warm burst of flavor that sat in her stomach and warmed her heart.The rich, gelatinous collagen of the tendons. The creamy, iron tang of what had to be liver. More meat she couldn't identify that was gently chewy but melted decadently on the tongue. Every different bite she took, from what seemed like every part of the animal, had been slow-cooked into an impossible tenderness and balanced by the earthiness of sweet tubers and the warm, aromatic heat of what tasted like ginger and black pepper, with strong notes of cinnamon permeating every bite. The only way it could possibly be better was if there was cheese.One mouthful became another. And then another. Benessel nodded with a hint of a smile on his face."It seems she approves! Eat! Be merry, for we depart in two hours!" Benessel declared loudly, and suddenly the tension was broken. Soon, the rest of the men were lining up, each with their own bowls in hand. The meal had begun in earnest.Somebody handed Ai a piece of flatbread, and she immediately scooped up stew and bits of Golga with it, relishing the combination of flavors. She felt as though she were transported into a memory, vivid and sharp, of rich beef stew and happiness.Christmas, twenty years ago, when she was five years old. Her parents, their faces young and unlined, asking her what she wanted more: a big Christmas dinner, or a traditional Japanese New Year's feast. She'd chosen Christmas.They had spent their entire quarterly allotment of real-food credits on the meal. The result had been a rich beef stew, made with actual, vat-grown beef and hydroponic vegetables, not the usual corrugated soy protein and nutrient paste. She remembered the taste of real, honest-to-god cheese melted on top, a delightfully chewy, creamy ambrosia.It had been one of her most cherished memories.Their camp was abuzz with the low murmur of conversation and the simple happiness of a filled belly. As Ai looked at Sari, she ate with the straightforward, unapologetic hunger of a woman who had stared death in the face and was now relishing the joy of a well-cooked meal.Laric, now across the fire, slowly but surely eating his bowl. A single tear traced a path down his cheek, but he kept eating, his expression a complex blend of gratitude, sorrow, and nostalgia. With every bite of stew and flatbread he took, Ai could see his lips move in a silent thank you, Beaky.Where Laric was somber and Sari enthusiastic, there was instead a satisfied, if weary smile on Karravar Benessel's face. He ate slowly, his gaze moving from man to man, as if noting to himself that each one of them was safe and accounted for.Ai's hand wandered to the loop on her belt where she kept Eye of the Storm and she imagined what her guild's afterparty must have been like. She'd never really engaged with the food and flavor simulation systems of Dirge, but she doubted the game could have ever matched this meal.I wouldn't trade it for anything, [Stormold]'s message had said. If this was what it had been like for him as well, if he and the other members of [kava] had all gathered around a campfire, eating, drinking, and making merry, Ai could see why.Two hours later, the caravan set on the road for Outpost Avna with full bellies and firmer resolve.