The Laptop - Ch.45 - Go With The Flow (Patreon)

We were all feeling a lot better after our day off. It helped us unwind from the shock and stress of the goblinoid ambush, and was also a really nice break from the constant hiking we'd been doing.

As for yesterday's experimentation stuff, it got off to a slow start but after trying a few of Chelsea's suggestions we found something that felt like a winning combination all three of us could enjoy. And we certainly enjoyed it a lot, numerous times through the day and into the evening. And even though I used the laptop again this morning to dial things back a little, there was still a sizeable bulge in my tights when I got dressed this morning.

Of course there was more to the laptop than fun and games and sex. Since we were expecting to reach civilization soon I figured we should have some local currency ready, especially because I really wanted to get us a hotel room. I honestly couldn't wait for the chance to sleep in a bed again, instead of on the cold hard ground.

So after making those minor adjustments to myself this morning I had another look in the realm editor, to find out what sort of money they used on Daearen. Neither Gwen or I were surprised to learn the coins here were based on precious and semi-precious metals. Or as my best friend said, it was a basic fantasy-world monetary system.

Once I figured that out I switched over to the inventory program to summon some cash for all three of us. And while I knew what kind of coins they used, I didn't actually know what they were worth or what kind of buying power they had. So I basically just guessed how much we'd need then had the laptop create three coin-purses, each of which contained a hundred gold coins, a hundred silver, and fifty bronze.

The gold coins were the smallest, at about eight millimetres across and half a millimetre thick. They were stamped with a woman's face on one side and a stylized flower on the other. The silver coins were a bit larger, at a dozen millimetres across and just under one millimetre thick. Those ones had the same woman's face on them, while the other side depicted a horse. The bronze coins were by far the largest, at almost twenty millimetres across and about a millimetre thick. They had that same woman on the front, and what looked like a sheaf of wheat on the back.

With that out of the way I used the laptop one more time, to summon up breakfast for the three of us. Then we broke camp, packed up, and got moving again. We were still following that game trail, and we were in the same 'marching order' we'd established earlier.

Our little catgirl rogue was up front where she could keep an eye out for traps, while her feline senses stayed wary of any other dangers. I was in the middle with an arrow set on my bow string, and with my ranger abilities I remained alert for any disturbances in the forest around us. And our tall hot elf mage was at the back, so Chels and I could keep her safe.

Although with 'safe mode' back in place I was confident nothing could actually hurt us. We all agreed there was no point taking chances though, and even if we couldn't get hurt none of us wanted to wander into another ambush or get caught in another trap.

"It looks like the game trail is starting to spread out a bit," I commented as I surveyed the path ahead of us. It was a little past mid-day and we'd been on the move for about four hours by that point.

Chelsea's tail flicked back and forth then she asked, "Do you think it's safe to keep following it?"

"For now," I nodded. "It could be we're nearing the end of it? If the end of the trail is just up ahead then animals might be more likely to wander left or right, especially if this area gets crowded."

The little catgirl hesitated as she tilted her head slightly, then her ears flicked while she sniffed the air.

"I can hear water up ahead!" she announced as she started moving again, a little faster than before. "It's probably the river we've been looking for!"

"Be careful," I cautioned. "This might be another good spot for an ambush."

Her tail flicked back and forth impatiently, but she slowed down again. Then all three of us moved cautiously ahead, as the trail grew wider. It was only another half minute before I picked up the differences in the woods. The forest seemed to open up, there was less underbrush, then finally we spotted the river up ahead.

A few seconds later we emerged from the woods, to find ourselves on a wide gently-sloping beach alongside the river. It wasn't sandy, the beach was made up of lots of smooth rounded rocks and pebbles. The beach was about six or seven meters wide, from the edge of the woods down to the water, and stretched off a good ten meters both left and right. The opposite bank of the river was about twenty meters away, and the slow-moving water looked to be around two meters deep in the middle.

"This is kind of nice," Gwen commented as she wandered over to the water's edge. "It seems peaceful here, you know?"

Then she looked down into the clear water and added, "It's probably a little cold, but it sure would be nice to feel clean again. At least for a little while."

I looked at Chels and asked, "What do you think? I know it's a little earlier than we'd normally stop, but...?"

"We probably shouldn't, considering we took yesterday off?" Chelsea replied. Then her tail swished back and forth as she smiled, "On the other hand this does seem like an ideal place to make camp. So as long as we get an early start in the morning and don't waste any more time once we're moving again, then yeah. Let's do it."

That put a wide grin on Gwyneth's face, then she sent Vix off on her usual scouting mission while we all started looking for firewood. We had a good supply of wood piled up when the little fox familiar returned an hour later, and with her all clear we set up camp and got a fire going.

Despite how eager we all were for the opportunity to get washed up, the water was cold enough that it took Gwen and I a good ten or twelve minutes before we actually took the plunge. And Chelsea needed even more time before she gave in and joined us.

The river was deep enough that we could swim when we got out into the middle, while it moved slow enough that we didn't have to worry about being swept away. And once we got used to the temperature it was actually a lot of fun. We even remembered to actually wash up, rather than just goofing around enjoying ourselves.

When the three of us finally emerged from the river we appreciated the warm summer air almost as much as our campfire. Then once we were all dried off Chelsea got to work fixing dinner, while Gwen and I filled up all our water skins.

The elf girl and I also took care of the washing up after dinner, since we hadn't had the opportunity to properly clean the dishes and cooking pot since we came across a stream a couple days earlier.

After that we turned in early, although once again we didn't go to sleep right away. My girlfriends and I couldn't resist a little more fooling around first.

• • • • •

"I kind of miss our wide gentle flowing river," I sighed as I looked through the woods at the fast-flowing torrent racing past a dozen meters below us to the left.

Gwen grimaced, "I miss having a trail to follow."

We'd been following the river for the past two days, and while yesterday went really well today it felt like the terrain was actively trying to stop us. What started out as a wide peaceful river gently meandering though a relatively flat forested landscape had turned into angry dangerous white water no more than six or seven meters across, racing over and around boulders and between jagged rocky outcrops.

It was still surrounded by dense woods on either side, but the ground was a lot more rugged and rocky, and even though we were gradually going downhill there were enough uphill parts to make it challenging. And on top of all that, we probably wasted at least two hours because the river kept doubling back on itself.

"Just watch your step on these steep bits," Chelsea warned. "This is serious hiking now. Up until today we were just walking in the woods."

She had a point there. The ground was hilly enough we had to use both hands at times, holding onto trees to keep ourselves steady as we navigated the rugged terrain. That meant my bow was slung over my shoulder rather than being held at the ready. And Gwen was relying heavily on her staff for hiking instead of magic.

"How much further do you think it's going to be like this?" Gwyneth asked with a frown. "I guess I'm wondering, if we're still in this kind of terrain by the end of the day how are we going to camp? I haven't seen anything even remotely resembling level ground in the last three hours."

Chels glanced over her shoulder at the elf girl as she responded, "Unless we really get bogged down in this I'm pretty sure we should reach Hoag's Hole by the end of the day. If we reach the lake before it gets too late then I say we just push through until we get to the village."

"And if we don't find the lake?" Gwen asked.

I gestured uphill, "We climb. Put more distance between us and the river, there's bound to be a spot we can spend the night."

The elf girl made a face, "Ugh. I really hope there's a hotel in this village. I want a big comfy bed, and a hot bath. And fresh food too."

"No offence Chelsea," she added quickly. "Your cooking is great, but I think I've had enough rice, lentils, and dried meat to last me a good long while."

"Same," I smiled. "Now let's keep moving, alright? Think about that big soft comfy bed waiting for us at the end of the day."

That was enough motivation to get Gwyneth moving again, and together the three of us pushed ahead. The trek didn't get any easier though, and over the next few hours it felt like we barely covered a couple kilometres. In fact it was already past that time of day we'd normally start looking for a place to set up camp, but the terrain was even worse than before. It almost felt like the landscape was slowly shifting from a steep ravine to a narrow gorge, and we were stuck trying to navigate along one side of it.

The river was still over a dozen meters below us, and it looked even angrier and more dangerous than ever. It was down to about five meters wide, squeezed between the steep sides of the ravine, and surging through deadly rapids.

"Up ahead!" Chelsea suddenly spoke up. "I see something!"

I was suddenly on full alert as I asked, "What is it? Trouble?"

The little catgirl shook her head while her tail swished back and forth, "I don't think it's trouble. But I don't think you're going to like it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gwen frowned.

Chels pointed, "It's a bridge over the river, to the other side of the ravine."

It took me a moment to see it, then when I finally spotted it I couldn't help grimacing. "That's not going to be fun."

"Oh hell no!" Gwen shook her head when she saw it. "No way!"

It was a rope bridge, basically three thick ropes tied to some sturdy trees on either side of the little gorge. There were thinner ropes connecting the main ones in a V shape, and the whole thing looked wobbly and dangerous as heck.

"The thing is we do kind of have to get across to that side sooner or later," Chelsea sighed. "This might be our only opportunity before we reach the lake."

My shoulders slumped, "Chels is right. Hoag's Hole is on the opposite side. If we don't cross now we might end up having to hike all the way around the lake to get there. That could add a whole day to our trip."

"We're still protected by safe mode right?" the little catgirl asked as she approached the rope bridge. "So we've got nothing to worry about."

The elf girl looked down at the raging rapids below then shook her head again, "I'm still worried. Even if it can't kill us, falling into that would absolutely suck."

Gwen was right, it was definitely scary. But Chels had a point, whatever happened it couldn't kill us. And I was really looking forward to finding a hotel for the night, so I was willing to risk it.

Chelsea actually volunteered to go across first to make sure it was truly safe. Although being the smallest, the lightest, and the most sure on her feet thanks to her claws and tail, her successful crossing didn't really prove much. Except once she got to the other side she found another reason for the rest of us to join her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed while her tail swished back and forth. "There's a path over here! No more clinging to the side of the gorge!"

I ended up going next, and by the time I made it to the other side my heart was racing. Even knowing I was indestructible it was still terrifying balancing my feet on a rope less than five centimetres thick while crossing a dozen meters above a raging river, jagged rocks, and huge boulders.

That just left Gwen, but she was still reluctant to trust the wobbly rope bridge. And since she was our mage, it turned out she didn't have to. She took a couple seconds to cast one of her spells, then while Chels and I watched, the elf girl simply floated across the gorge to settle gently onto the ground next to us.

Then we all got moving again, and thanks to the path the rest of our hike was a whole lot easier. It still took us another couple hours, but the gorge finally opened up to reveal the lake some distance ahead of us. Although to be honest it was small enough that I wasn't sure it actually qualified as a lake. I couldn't help thinking it was more like an overgrown pond with ambitions.

There was one last impressive sight along the way. As the sun hung low in the sky behind us the river almost disappeared before us where it tumbled over a six meter waterfall. Beyond that its banks spread out to form the shores of the large round pond. Or the small circular lake, if you wanted to be generous.

And just visible nestling on the water's edge about half a kilometer ahead of us was the settlement of Hoag's Hole.