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"No problem, kid," Caleb chuckled. "Now hurry go back to your room and get some sleep after returning those plates." Alone again, Caleb carefully tested his shoulder's range of motion. Still painful, but functional. He dug out the laudanum, considering it before putting it aside. Better to save it for when the Pain Nullifier isn't enough.
As he blew out the lamp and settled into bed, Sleep pulled at him like a strong tide, and this time, he didn't resist.
The next day Caleb blinked blearily, the dull throb in his left shoulder waking him before the sun had fully crested the distant mountains.
The moment he shifted, the pain returned, not as sharp as the day before thanks to the Pain Nullifier skills, but still enough to remind him that he wasn't invincible.
Not yet, anyway. With a grunt, he sat up on the edge of the bed, the room dim and quiet save for the rustle of his movement and the soft groan of the bedsprings.
He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the laudanum. Just a drop this time, he told himself. No sense in building a habit. One careful drop under the tongue and he leaned back, waiting for the bitter tingle to spread into warmth.
A moment later, he followed it with a sip of the herbal tonic Doc Calloway had given him. It had a strange, earthy flavor, but the old man swore by it. Said it helped replace blood lost from wounds.
His shoulder eased. Still sore, but manageable. Caleb rolled it gently, with limited mobility, but usable. He wouldn't be breaking any saloon brawls today, but he could manage.
He decided to forego his usual upper body stretching and instead focused on his legs and lower back. Controlled breathing, slow and deliberate movements. One stretch at a time.
The knock came just as Caleb finished his lower body stretches, his left shoulder protesting any upper body movement. "Who is it?" he called, wiping sweat from his brow.
"It's me, Jasper," came the boy's voice through the wooden door.
Caleb smiled faintly. He crossed the room, undid the latch, and stepped back to let Jasper in. The boy entered quickly, closing the door behind him, only to stop short as Jasper's eyes widened at the sight of Caleb mid stretch, one leg propped on the bed frame as he leaned into a deep hamstring pull.
Jasper's face twisted in confusion. "Uh... what are you doin'?"
Caleb chuckled, straightening up. "Morning exercises. "Stretching. Helps keep the body fit. Makes you faster, stronger... tougher, and limber."
He mimicked Caleb's stretch awkwardly, nearly toppling over. "What exactly are these for?"
"Flexibility. Strength." Caleb demonstrated a proper squat, keeping his injured shoulder stable. "Out here, your body's your most important tool. Weakness gets you killed."
Jasper's eyes lit up. "Can you teach me? I wanna learn."
Caleb nodded. "Sure. But fair warning, it ain't easy the first time."
Jasper grinned and kicked off his boots.
What followed was forty minutes of basic calisthenics exercises, stretching, sit ups, push ups, deep squads, and lunges.
Caleb kept it simple, directing Jasper how to move with control rather than speed. The boy tried to follow each motion with a mix of excitement and inexperience. He was drenched with sweat which poured down his face by the time they finished the third set of lunges.
By the end, Jasper lay sprawled on the floor like a starfish, his shirt soaked with sweat. " "Holy hell, I think... I'm dying..." he wheezed. "How do you do this every day?"
"Pain is part of the process," Caleb replied, helping him sit up with his right arm. "Your body's screaming now, but if you stick with it, you'll be stronger than most men twice your age."
Jasper's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, but he nodded. "Alright... I'm in."
Caleb grinned. "Good. Now get up, we're going for a run."
"A what?!"
"Run. Round Valentine. Keeps the blood moving. Builds endurance. You'll thank me later."
Jasper stared at him, betrayed. But ten minutes later, the two were out the hotel doors, making their way through the morning streets.
The town was just beginning to stir. A few shopkeepers swept their porches, and a sleepy eyes rancher rode past with a small herd of cattle.
Caleb took a slower pace than usual, mindful of his injury, as his shoulder throbbed in time with his footsteps, and of Jasper, who was doing his best to keep up. The boy's legs weren't used to this kind of exertion, but he didn't complain.
Jasper kept up for the first block before his breathing turned ragged.
"Focus on your breath," Caleb instructed, maintaining an easy jog. "In through the nose, out through the mouth. Don't gasp like a fish."
Jasper tried, with limited success. They attracted curious looks from early risers, the hero of Valentine and the new bounty hunter alongside his young charge running laps around town like madmen. At the stable, Mr. Levi paused in mucking stalls to shake his head in bemusement.
By their third circuit, Jasper was flagging badly. Caleb slowed to a walk near the sheriff's office, letting the boy catch his breath. "Not bad for your first time."
Jasper bent double, hands on knees. "I think... I swallowed... my tongue..."
Sheriff Malloy emerged from his office, toothpick dangling from his lips. "What in God's name are you two doin'?"
"Morning exercise, Sheriff," Caleb said, rolling his injured shoulder carefully.
Sheriff Malloy snorted. "Exercise. Right." He eyed Jasper's heaving form. "Boy looks like he's been rode hard and put up wet. By the way, you can come and lick up your bounty payment anytime Caleb."
Caleb nodded his head while Jasper managed a weak thumbs up before dry heaving into the bushes. Sheriff Malloy shook his head seeing that and retreated inside.
By the time they finished the loop and returned to the hotel, Jasper was red faced and drenched in sweat. He leaned forward, hands on his knees.
"This... this is how you start your days?"
"Most of 'em. Builds discipline."
"I feel like my legs are gonna fall off."
Caleb patted him on the back. "Good. That means it's working."
They went inside, and paid the hotel clerk 25 cents each for a hot bath. Jasper went first while Caleb waited downstairs, enjoying a cool drink and some silence.
When his turn came, Caleb brought fresh bandages with him and took his time cleaning the area around his stitched wound. The wound looked better than expected, the edges pink but not inflamed, no sign of infection. His Physical Regeneration skill must be working faster than normal healing.
He cleaned the injury with the harsh lye soap provided, hissing through his teeth at the sting. Fresh bandages went on smoothly, the laudanum taking the worst edge off the pain.
The hot water was heaven on his sore muscles. Caleb soaked longer than usual, letting the heat work its magic.
By the time he emerged, scrubbed pink, he changed into his freshly laundered vaquero outfit, and the shirt he'd worn during the bounty hunt was ruined anyway, the hole at the shoulder too large to mend. He tossed it out and sent the rest of his clothes to be washed, paying 50 cents at the desk.
When both were done, Caleb and Jasper headed over to Smithfield's saloon. The morning crowd was light, mostly locals sipping coffee or chasing away hangovers. Caleb paid 7 dollars for two bowls of stew and mugs of milk. They sat near the window, the golden light of morning streaming in.
Jasper slurped a spoonful, then leaned back with a sigh. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna walk again."
Caleb chuckled. "You'll be fine. Give it a day or two, then we'll do it all over again."
"What if I just... didn't?"
"Then you'll always be tired, weak, and runnin' from the next problem instead of facin' it."
Jasper mulled that over. "Alright. But I better get strong soon. I wanna be like you one day."
Caleb looked at him for a long moment. There was no bravado in Jasper's voice, just earnest determination.
"Then start by finishing that stew," Caleb said.
Jasper nodded thoughtfully, mopping up a spoonful of his stew. "How'd you learn all this? The shooting, the fighting... even the exercises?"
Caleb hesitated. His "past life memories" from the game and his past life weren't something he could explain. "Picked things up here and there. Teaching of my pa mostly."
The lie came easily. Jasper seemed to accept it, and then they ate in companionable silence for a while, the warmth of the meal easing the aches in their muscles. Caleb was thinking about the result of his bounty hunting.
With Drew Dallas behind bars, he'd earned more money and recognition, increasing his reputation even more in Valentine and even across New Hanover.
Since he had taken down what could be said to be a dangerous bounty target, his name now carried weight in Valentine's. Almost all of the townsfolk nodded when they passed him on the street, unlike when he solved the rustling problem.
Word was spreading, too, a man who captured Drew Dallas alive, even while wounded, wasn't just lucky. He was skilled. Reliable. Dangerous.
That kind of reputation was valuable.
And Caleb? He knew the value of a good reputation. In the days ahead, it could be a shield, a key, and a weapon all in one. The more people trusted him, the more he could move freely. Gain favors. Buy time. Ask questions. Avoid the noose when needed.
So while the Van der Linde gang remained on the edges of his story for now, a simmering thread he would tug on when the time was right, he wouldn't risk the trust he'd built here.
No holdups, no thefts, and no shady business at Valentine's. He had to maintain a clean face in public. There was power in the image of a dependable bounty hunter, something that he could wield just as effectively as a loaded gun.
Still, he knew this world. Sooner or later, to change fate, to manipulate the pieces of the board that would shape Arthur's path, and eventually the entire Van der Linde gang, he'd have to get his hands dirty. Real dirty.
That meant wearing two faces.
For the outlaw work, the necessary jobs that had to be done outside the law, Caleb had a plan. On his next trip east, he'd stop by Emerald Ranch. Seamus, the sharp eyed fence who pretended to be an honest man, had access to items no honest man should.
There, Caleb intended to purchase a full mask, not just a bandana, but something that could fully obscure his identity, like a leather pull over with darkened lenses, the kind that twisted your silhouette into something unfamiliar.
Paired with a change in posture and voice, deeper, raspier, like he'd smoked cigars since birth, it would make him unrecognizable to all but the closest of friends or people familiar with him.
He'd also need outfits. Not one, but several. Different hats, coats, gloves, boots. A uniform of anonymity. One for riding with the gang. One for robberies, stagecoach heists, or ambushes. One for infiltration or nighttime work. Carefully chosen, deliberately dirtied, and never worn in Valentine's or any place he wanted to keep his name clean.
The fewer people who connected Caleb Thorne to that masked outlaw, the better. And if worse came to worst, he could always fake the masked man's death later. All part of the long game. But not yet.
After they were done eating their stew, Caleb parted ways with Jasper who returned back to the hotel to take a rest and went to collect his bounty from Sheriff Malloy. The office smelled faintly of stale coffee and gun oil when he entered. Sheriff Malloy handed over a stack of bills without ceremony which he put on the table, the 100 dollars prize for the bounty, and the 50 dollar bonus included.
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Name:Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 6/10
- Agility: 6/10
- Perception: 8/10
- Stamina: 6/10
- Charm: 5/10
- Luck: 5/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl 2)
- Rifle (Lvl 2)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl 2)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl 1)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl 1)
- Sneaking (Lvl 1)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl 2)
- Poker (Lvl 1)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl 1)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl 1)
- Dead Eye (Lvl 1)
- Bow (Lvl 2)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl 1)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl 0)
Money: 703 dollars and 61 cents
Bank: 40 dollars, 2 gold bars, a large bag of jewelry, and 3 gold nuggets