I walk with [Sense Presence] and [Hide Presence] activated and just power through the tiredness that they give me.
The skills make me tense, but I can still appreciate the environment. The trees are all ten to fifteen meters tall, with a girth that would require at least five people to make a human chain around it. There's also the occasional huge root snaking around the trees, randomly going above or below the ground, and they make me wonder if they're the roots of one huge tree.
There're also plenty of different bushes and small trees with fruits, mostly colorful berries and grapes. I try to put the fruits into "Items," but they all show a "??? fruit," so I'm not sure what they are or if they're even edible. They look quite appetizing, though.
Then, as I walk through a small patch of blue-leaved trees with a white trunk, my [Sense Presence] picks up something different from the animals. I sense a "red dot" a few meters away and to my right. Not only is the color ominous, but I actually do feel like the skill is telling me that it's something "dangerous."
Then my heart skips a beat when I notice that the red dot is coming directly towards me.
Did it notice me? Does it also have [Sense Presence]? I can't even see it because the bushes are on the way.
I hide behind a bush and crouch. If possible, I'd like to avoid combat. In games, killing monsters gives experience, which will increase my "level," but I don't have confidence in my abilities, and I also don't even know what kind of "enemy" is coming.
The presence continues towards me. I notice the intercept route is a little off, so maybe it's just a coincidence that our paths would cross, but it'll still be very close. I can't afford to move and make a noise.
I put my hand on the hilt of my sword.
As I wait for the enemy to come closer, I start to hear footsteps. The pitter-patter makes me think that the red dot is a quadruped, so perhaps it's a dog? Then I hear the sound of someone sniffing the air. It's smelling me. There's no escape now that it caught my scent; it's going to find me.
A bush ahead of me rustles, then a small wolf-like animal comes out of it. It has a long snout that gets thinner at the nose, fangs coming out of its closed mouth, and a round body with spines covered in moss. What's not covered in spines is covered in grey fur. It's certainly not an animal that I know.
I freeze for a moment as I'm still not used to the ridiculous things that happen to me, but that was a mistake.
The monster has noticed me, and it immediately bares his fangs, then lunges at me.
It's coming, it's gonna bite me, it wants to kill me, I'm going to die.
"AAAAAAAH!" I scream in fear.
The fight or flight instinct kicks in, and this time, I decided to fight.
When the monster gets close enough it jumps, aiming at my face.
Like the noob that I am, I forgot to draw my sword, so all I can do is aim the blade at the monster while it flies towards me, and it hits the side of its snout. This isn't a katana capable of Iaido, so I only manage to give it a mere cut, but at least I deflected the tackle.
It passes by my side and falls two meters away.
I turn immediately to face it, and the animal does a move that sends chills down my spine. It lifts the hind legs and lowers the front legs, then the spines move their pointy ends directly towards me and start to shake. In the next moment, they shoot out like arrows.
Through some incredible reflexes or luck, I lunge to the side, hiding behind the nearest tree, but it isn't a perfect dodge. The side of my left leg is assaulted by a wave of pain as the mossy spines enter my skin.
My heart was already pumping adrenaline a few seconds ago, so I manage to ignore the pain, but still panic and decide to use my trump card. I charge [
Lightning Bolt
].
I hear the rushed footsteps of the monster chasing after me. It has to go around the tree, so it doesn't reach me instantly, but its speed is still faster than I can cast.
I see it, and it immediately jumps again, its open, fanged mouth aiming towards my face, then the Bolt flies.
The lightning roars and the animal screams. It tackles me, but it doesn't bite. I protect my face and manage to grab him by the snout. It isn't very heavy, so I manage to not fall back from the impact. Then I slam it against the ground in rage.
Part of its fur is burned, there's smoke rising from its body, and its eyes are both cloudy and possibly fried, then it starts to convulse, but it's not dead yet.
Anger runs through my body and I pierce its head with my sword, letting the skill do it all for me.
The monster twitches for a few seconds, then it stops moving.
I killed something, I actually fucking killed something…but the feeling of my sword piercing through flesh is disgusting.
"You are now level one," a female voice echoes around me.
"W-what? Who's there?" I question and look around, but there's nobody around. I blink as I process what I heard, and after a few moments, I recognize that the voice was inside my head, like a video game announcer.
I stand still for some time, thinking about what just happened, but the adrenaline goes away and the pain of the spines piercing my skin starts to grow.
I quickly pull the spines out, but it just makes the pain worse. Now, my skin trickles with blood and stains my clothes, then I notice that four spines got stopped by the leather jacket.
I guess armor really is useful here, though it's a bit lacking in padding.
I cast [
Regeneration
], and a ball of light appears, floating above my left palm. I push it against my body and it sinks like it was ethereal, and I remain still for some time as I feel my mana steadily drain, then I start to calm down as the pain slowly subsides, and a slightly pleasurable feeling courses through my body. It seems that this is a continuous or "channeled" spell.
It takes ten minutes, but the blood stops completely, then the wound starts closing, and the pain goes away completely. I guess this magic isn't something you use during battle, but it remains in effect for a minute after I stop channeling it.
My mana is now at twenty. I guess I really need that [Mana Efficiency] skill for magic.
--
While waiting for my mana to recharge, I look at my stats, but disappointingly, they didn't change. Perhaps, like "Sanity," stat values change based on training or other conditions instead of level.
Then I look into my skills and notice that I have four new Skill Points to spend. I use two for the [Mana Efficiency] skill and two for [Sword Use]. Even though I barely used the sword, it was because I made a mistake and kept it sheathed before the battle. The monster was fast and magic has a short delay to cast, so I need to defend myself with a weapon if I get into melee.
I test a [Dismantling] skill, but it seems it just gives me "intuition" in how to butcher it, but at least it gives me the idea that the corpse of monsters might be valuable.
I decide to put it into my "Items," and it shows as "Hedge-wolf? monster corpse." I don't understand why there's a "?" there. Maybe it's like the fruits and the naming is based on my knowledge, so it picked the most appropriate name I could think of.
I also change my pants since the smell of blood could attract more monsters. The bloodied pants are put into "Items" and get named as "bloody black woolen pants."
I take out the "spare clothes bundle." It's a neat stack of clothes tied by a small cord. Maybe it needs to be like this so that it can "stack" and be considered as one item instead of each piece of clothing being separate. The bundle also has some linen underwear, which is the same as the one I'm wearing. It's loose-fitting and a little uncomfortable for me.
Now I start to think about this world. It's clear that there are monsters different from animals and that they're hostile.
This one likely discovered me by smell, so I guess [Hide Presence] was a bit useless, but maybe there's some magic that can help mask my scent. The loud roar my [
Lightning Bolt
] made when I tested it might've also alerted it of my presence, so that could be why it came towards me, to begin with.
But the main lesson here is that I need to fight and I need to
kill
what I fight, there's no other way to survive here.
--
After recharging my mana, I start moving again. Now I feel a little more confident since I calmed my heart, but I'm still feeling rather stressed. The [Sense Presence] skill is taking its toll on me.
After walking for what seems like half an hour, I get another hit on my radar. The red dot feels "different" this time, and it's not coming directly towards me.
I hide behind a bush with a good vision ahead and wait until I can see it. After a minute or so, a bush rustles and the monster comes out of it.
It's a skinny, little green man with an ugly, oversized bald head full of wrinkles, a large, pointy ear, and a curved nose. It's a goblin, a standard enemy of fantasy worlds. It's completely naked, and its disgusting genital is dangling around, waving as he moves. He's also wounded as I can see a few bruises and cuts all over his exposed skin that are lightly bleeding. In his left hand, he is dragging a long, thin dagger, probably used for piercing, not cutting.
This is a golden opportunity. A single Hedge-wolf gave me one hundred and ten experience points and let me level up, now I need two hundred points, but every single point counts.
Just a single level in [Electric Magic] was enough to be the difference between life and death, or at least life and a nasty bite on my face. If I want to survive, I need more skill points, so I need more levels, and, therefore, I need to
kill
this goblin. The chance of success on this is high unless I'm mistaking the strength of this little green thing. He's not even a meter tall, so he should be weak.
Yes, that's it, I'm charging.
I draw my sword and dash towards him, holding it high above my head. The goblin barely has a chance to react before I'm into range, and I chop downwards.
The goblin's face instantly warps into a scowl as he raises his dagger and tries to deflect my sword with his dagger, but he's too weak in comparison to me. He's not fast or strong enough to parry, but he still moves my sword sideways a bit. What was supposed to be a single hit kill by a chop to the head becomes a deadly wound as the tip of my sword sinks into his shoulder. It passes through flesh and bone, entering his chest, then it gets stuck.
"GYEEEEEH!" The goblin screams. A nasty scream so loud that it hurts my ears.
With this, the color drains from my face. He could be calling for allies, and now I might be in
a bit
of trouble.
With anger fueling my movements, I dislodge my sword from its body, then bring it back and slice horizontally. The skill helps me do a simple, but perfectly executed cut, and the blade smoothly slides along his neck sinking deeper and deeper until it comes out on the other side, decapitating him, and his head rolls away. This is an
awfully
sharp sword, though his neck was pretty slim.
I don't have time to be stunned by the bloody scene. If a wounded goblin appeared, maybe there are others who just finished fighting. Even if they're wounded, I have no confidence in fighting more than one enemy, especially if they can just throw things at me, like spears.
Leaving a corpse will attract more monsters sensitive to smell, so I quickly add the goblin's body, head, and knife to my "Items," then I dash into a right angle from where the goblin came from to maximize my distance from where I killed it.
After a minute or so, I slow down and catch my breath. I look at the sword in my hand and realize I forgot to clean it, so it should've left a trail of blood directly towards me.
Fucking…!
I pull the already bloodied pants from "Items" and use it to clean the blood, then I resume moving towards my destination.
This goblin gave me one hundred and eighty experience points, now I only need ten more for the next level. This is good progress.
Just two more points into [Sword Use] allowed me to properly swing the sword twice and get a kill, so I'll soon be able to increase the skill some more. But this battle went so well because it was a surprise attack against a small monster armed only with a knife, so I hope I don't find anything worse.
But I do, find what that goblin had fought.
--
After another hour, I get another hit on my radar, and it sends chills down my spine. I feel that this red rod is considerably larger than the previous ones, and I estimate that its body size is as big as me, but much longer and thick.
I immediately crouch behind a bush and hide in fear, then I make sure that [Hide Presence] is constantly on.
The monster is just going to pass nearby, and there's no risk of it getting too close. It's slowly strolling around, and it seems like it doesn't even have a fixed destination, so I assume that it's not searching for me, specifically.
After two minutes, I start to hear the monster walking. It's another quadruped with a very heavy body. Then I hear a small growl, an unmistakable
bear
growl.
I start sweating cold. Even in my world, a bear is not something you fight with just a sword and a party trick spell.
Then the bear suddenly stops.
Did it notice me? How? I can't hear it trying to smell the air.
Then I hear it turn in my direction. I wait for a few seconds, my heart trying to escape my mouth, then it growls again, and this time, it sounds angry.
Yeah, it noticed me. [Hide Presence] must've failed!
I should've walked away, I should've taken [Quiet Steps] so that I could walk away from any dangerous encounter, but I didn't think this would happen, I didn't expect that it could so easily detect my presence. I thought the Hedge-wolf was an exception, but I was naive.
Now, what do I do, flee? I'm getting tired, the bear is in the way of my destination, and I'm not sure if I can outrun a bear. Maybe I should fight and test the waters, then flee if the situation gets worse. The problem is, if I get hit once, then maybe I'm dead, so there's no room for a mistake here.
I need to at least look at what kind of enemy this is. The hedge-wolf was just bizarre, but maybe I can see something that'll help me defeat it.
I get up and peek from behind the bush and regret doing so. The enemy is truly a bear, a frightening bear staring at me like a ravenous beast. It has five claws the size of my hand on each paw, fangs the size of my head protruding from its open, salivating mouth, and grey fur covering its body.
But then I become surprised as I notice that it's wounded. I can see more than a dozen shafts of what seems to be spears stuck to its body, there's a strong trickle of blood dripping from its face, one eye is closed, and there are multiple bloodstains all over its grey fur. It's heavily wounded, so it's probably what the previous goblin was fighting.
I think that there's a chance of victory, but I can't get hit. If I do, I'm dead, so I have to use everything I can to win.
I draw my sword and start casting [
Lighting Bolt
], then the bear immediately starts charging. I don't want to use [
Constricting Vines
] because the spell is too slow, and I also have a feeling that simple vines won't stop the charge of something that big.
He's fast, but so is my casting, I manage to cast my bolt twice before he gets into melee range. Each hit slows him down considerably and the smell of burnt flesh fills the air, so I successfully stop his charge.
He gets on his hind legs and tries to use his huge paws to swipe at me, but they're too slow, so I jump backward and release another Bolt, making him roar in anger.
Now he's angry. With a sudden burst of speed, he waddles a little closer and swipes with a speed that catches me by surprise. All I can do is defend myself with the sword as the claws hit the blade and its massive strength sends me flying.
I hit my back against a tree and air leaves my lungs, then I feel a blinding pain that immobilizes me for a second.
My vision becomes blurry, but I manage to cast the Bolt again. The spell hits the bear on the snout, then it stops its attack and starts convulsing.
An opportunity! I could run away, but the bloodlust clouds my mind. Anger makes me move forward, and the sweet deal of getting a large amount of experience fills my thoughts with greed. I charge forward.
How long are his convulsions going to last? I don't know, but since this is low-level magic, it's likely to be short, so I start casting again.
A strong headache attacks me, so I think this is my last spell.
The bear stops convulsing and roars again, then I finish my cast at point-blank range.
The bear flinches in pain from the spell, then I let the skill take hold, and I lunge. The tip of the blade sinks through the eye and continues on until it reaches the hilt, then I feel the tip hitting the back of its skull.
The bear twitches once, then his body gives up and it falls limp on the ground.
"You are now level five," the female announcer reports again.
I look at my stats, my MP is at minus four. A massive headache flares and my vision goes dark.
--
I slowly recover my consciousness. My back hurts a lot, I'm shivering, I have difficulty breathing, and my head hurts so much I don't think I can even stand.
While laying down, I look into my stats and see that my MP is at ten but my HP is at ninety.
Even though I blocked the attack I got damaged. Scary.
My "Magic Power" grew by five and my maximum MP by ten. I now have twelve new skill points, so I put them all on [Mana Efficiency] and cast [
Regeneration
] on myself.
It takes another ten minutes, and I heal myself until I have only one MP left. The spell helps with the back pain, but the headache worsens, and I'm still feeling very tired.
I simply rest on the ground until my MP reaches twenty, then I use [
Regeneration
] again and the back pain subsides enough to let me stand.
I look around and see that the bear is dead with my sword sticking out of its eye.
I did it, I fucking killed a huge bear, a monstrously large bear. Fucking hell.
I take the sword out and clean it on the bear's own fur, then I grab a paw and store the bear on "Items. Now I need to properly distribute my points.
--
I have thirty-one points total, so I put them like this:
--
['PRESS HERE TO CHOOSE Skill Report']
['Physical']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Sword Use: 5 | Dodge: 3]
['Magical']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Mana Efficiency: 3 | Mana Recovery: 3 | Electric Magic: 4]
[Nature Magic: 5]
['Miscellaneous']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Sense Presence: 4 | Hide Presence: 4]
--
I should at least be able to use [
Lightning Bolt
] five times without fainting, perhaps one more and then fainting. I don't know which is more efficient, [Mana Efficiency] or [Reduced Mana Cost], so I'm just going to bet on efficiency. I also don't have time to test them since it's way past noon now and I need to keep moving. I prefer to spread out my capabilities a bit instead of focusing on only one thing since no skill has a significant impact on my fighting capabilities because they seem to be heavily limited by my stats. I need to be versatile and adaptive here.
With unsteady steps, I start moving again. I'm still hurting, my HP is at ninety-eight, and my MP is at forty, but I shouldn't linger any longer here lest another monster find me, attracted by the sounds of our battle.
The range of [Sense Presence] is noticeably higher now and it makes me less tense to use it along with [Hide Presence], which is good since I still have a headache.
I can see my MP gradually going up even while moving, so [Mana Recovery] is a good investment. Now I can heal myself again while walking, then the headache and back pain gradually stops, but I'm still feeling very tired.
--
After another hour, I get another hit. This time, I know it's a goblin.
It seems to be standing still, so I could test using [Quiet Steps]. I don't want to fight and I'm really tired, but I need this knowledge!
In games, goblins usually attack in numbers to compensate for their lack of intelligence or equipment, so finding a single goblin is lucky. Maybe not so lucky since I also met what made them scatter, but still, this situation is a lucky find.
I switch [Sense Presence] for [Quiet Steps] and activate it, then I sneak closer to the goblin. Like [Sword Use], [Quiet Steps] gives me "intuition" in how to move quietly, and my footsteps become noticeably softer. It seems that the skill isn't straight-up magic, but it's close.
I manage to catch a glimpse of the goblin, and he seems to be looking downwards, distracted with something, so I circle around to get behind him and continue approaching.
From an opening in a bush, I notice he's treating a wound. He has a nasty cut on his shoulder, and he's wiping it with a seemingly clean cloth.
How smart is he?
Then I notice that he's wearing a small leather jacket and that he has a wooden spear with a shining metal tip next to him.
He's not the same as the previous goblin. This one is more experienced, seemingly smarter, and also has better equipment. I need to kill him with one attack.
I carefully approach, inching closer, little by little.
I must have patience.
My heart beats so fast I can hear my own pulse.
I inch closer.
My hand shakes with anxiety and anticipation.
I inch closer.
He's barely within reach of my sword.
"Gah?" He leaks a sound and looks behind, but it's too late.
I lunge forward and stab his throat, then he immediately pressures the wound as he writhes on the ground. All he can do is garble some words and gasp for air while slowly dying from drowning in his own blood.
He stares at me intensely. His beady little eyes don't contain anger but only surprise. Maybe he's surprised he got attacked, or just surprised he's going to die.
I stand over him and stare back, but the bloody scene makes me feel nauseous. He's way too human for me to just watch him slowly die.
Perhaps I made a mistake. Perhaps he's sapient and a person who belongs to a community in this world. Perhaps I committed a crime. I never allowed those two goblins to attack first; I ambushed both of them.
I can't look at this anymore, so I decapitate the goblin.
Shit, I feel even worse now.
He gave more experience than the last goblin, but it's not enough to level up again. I look at my status and see that my "Crimes" section is still saying "NONE." This gives me a little comfort, but only a little.
I put him and his spear in my "Items," then I turn around towards my objective again and see something frightening.
A human skull, multiple bones, and a skeleton torso are laying at the foot of a huge tree. The bones are small, but they're definitely human, or at least I think they are. Goblin heads are seemingly much larger than this skull.
Then I see something besides the skeleton, a ruined backpack.
I now remember that the goblin's equipment was rather dusty and old-looking. The spear was clean, but it was chipped. It seems that the previous owner of this equipment was the skeleton remains. The goblin had just found it by chance.
When I look inside the backpack, I see a small ruined notebook. I open it, and while it's mushy and the words are blurred, I can still discern some foreign characters every once in a while, so I remove one point from [Sword Use] and start adding it to each of the language skills in my "Miscellaneous" tab.
After a few minutes, I finally find the language this notebook was written in, it's Norvok.
I have to put five points in the language for me to be able to make sense of what's written. Also, it seems that the maximum for language is ten.
This notebook is a diary. A dwarven young man was traveling to the other side of the continent and writing about his travels. There are tellings of what was eaten, killed, who he talked to, and minor random details. I can't absorb anything from the culture just by reading this, but it helps me discover that the language used by the locals is called Andraste.
There's no identification in the backpack or notebook, so I don't know the name of this dwarf. I feel like I should bury him, but I don't have a shovel and neither the energy nor the time to waste here, so I just put all his bones in a pile and continue on towards my objective.
--
After another hour of walking, I finally see something glittering beyond the trees. It's grass, grass touched by the sun. I've finally reached the border of the forest.
I start to run. I don't care if I find another monster, I just want to see what's ahead. If it's really a town, then the last stretch of my journey is close, and with that, comes safety.
The view opens up, and the forest finally ends. I'm now in a grassland, and I see a beautiful sight. The green tall grass reaches my waist and waves with the wind, painted with the gold of the reflected sunlight. It's a calming picturesque view that makes me wish to just lay down and relax, but the most beautiful sight is beyond the grassland.
I see the stone wall, around twenty meters tall, with towers double its size behind it. Very far away, to the left of where the wall ends, there's a cobble chest-high wall, and behind it, I see a few wagons with dozens of people walking around them. Beyond the chest-high cobblestone wall, I see plantations, so they must be farms.
Finally, civilization!
I remove [Quiet Steps] and [Hide Presence], and reduce [Dodge] by two, then I add ten points to [Andraste Language]. With preparations done, I start running towards the wagons.
Suddenly, my energy runs out as I realize something. I haven't thought of a story to tell them yet. Even if I can communicate, it's best that I don't tell them I came from another world or tell a shitty lie like I lost my memories or something similar. There's a probability that I will be taken advantage of if I do that, so I need to decide on a believable story.
I kneel and try to hide under the waist-high grass, then I take out my backpack from "Items" and fit a few things on it, like the sleeping bag, cooking pot, change of clothes, pieces of food, knives, and some coins. Now, my backpack is full and heavy, so I continue moving forward. I hope nobody noticed I didn't have it on me before.
As I approach the wall, I attract attention from the people ahead, then some men with cloaks lean on the chest-high wall as they watch me.
Then I get close enough to discern the details of the men watching me. They're all wearing a hauberk with a grey tabard on top, and a mail coif. A few have spears, but all of them have swords hanging from their waists and kite shields strapped to their arms. The tabards are black with a simple white kite in the middle, which has a golden sword and a rose crossed over it. This must be the heraldry of the town's lord.
Is this really Earth? It looks like I'm in a medieval fantasy world.
When I get close enough, I count four male and two female soldiers watching me.
"Ooi, are you okay?! Are you an adventurer?!" Shouts one of the men.
Adventurer? No, that sounds dangerous, I'm just a traveler.
Their speech sounds really odd to me. I hear foreign words, but in my mind, I perfectly understand what they mean. This must be the effect of the language skill.
"N-no, I'm just a traveler. I got lost in the woods and got attacked!" I answer in the same odd speech as them, clearly not English.
The soldiers start murmuring with each other, looking slightly surprised and confused.
Once I get close enough to properly see their faces, one of the soldiers starts talking out loud as he frowns, "Uh, you're too small to be traveling by yourself, and you don't look like a dwarf, but I guess the forest should be calmer right now since the last culling was just two days ago."
The other soldiers snort and chuckle.
"Kids are always looking for a cheap way to get levels, even if it's dangerous," another comments, and the soldiers hum in agreement.
I tense up, unsure what to say, but if they think I'm just a dumb kid then I guess it's acceptable.
"Anyway, are you going to enter the town?" The first soldier casually asks.
"Yes, please. I'm tired, and I really need some rest," I quietly answer.
"Don't go out again, you got lucky this time, kid," a female soldier advises me with a reproving tone.
Lucky? Pff. If that's being lucky, then please wake me up from this nightmare.
The first soldier ignores her and continues, "Alright, I'll process your entry, come with me. Now everybody, back to your stations!" He barks as he glares at the other soldiers, and they all disperse immediately. I notice that this man wears a golden armband on both arms, so perhaps he's the leader of the watch.
I could only look at them for a short time, but these men and women are all tall, burly, and have attractive faces. I'm rather surprised they aren't uglier.
I jump over the wall and fall on a raised cobblestone road, then I follow the leader. We pass by two stopped wagons, and each has another soldier writing something with a… pen? It looks like a thin metallic cylinder with a very small jewel at the tip.
Both the civilians and the guards that are talking are wearing such finely embroidered woolen clothing that makes mine look like rags. One even has a beautiful silk cloak. I guess they must be merchants.
We walk through a long, wooden bridge lowered across a moat, then we pass through a huge portcullis, and we finally enter the town.
Ahead of us, there's a short row of boring and bland buildings. After that, a spectacle of crooked, bizarre, and beautiful buildings starts. Perhaps the boring ones are barracks.
The man leads me into a small office stuck on the wall. Inside, I see a few simple wooden chairs around a wooden table with a few sealed scrolls on top of it.
"Alright, sit," he casually orders and motions to the chair. Once I obey, he continues, "Do you have any identification?"
I sweat a bit. I don't even know what this "identification" is, so I need to lie here.
"No, I lost it when I got attacked. I had another bag, but it got torn," I stiffly answer, doing my best to keep a poker face.
He lazily raises a black eyebrow. "Right. Well, we'll just use the Inspection Crystal, then.
Is that alright with you
?" He sternly asks.
I have no idea what this "Inspection Crystal" is so I'm just gonna go with the flow.
"It's ok," I calmly answer and flash a shy smile.
"Then wait here. Let me grab it in the other room," he replies and leaves without waiting for an answer.
Perhaps this stone will see my status window. The name is obviously suggestive.
When I open my "Status," I notice that I haven't written my name yet, so I hastily try to awkwardly write down my own name on the floating, touchless keyboard.
Wait no, my name sucks. Fuck that shit. It's time to choose a cool name my parents were too boring to pick for me.
I choose "Wolf Ryder."
A few seconds later, the man comes back with a simple box that cushions a crystal ball and a tablet. It looks slightly expensive.
"Alright, put your hand on the ball and keep it there until I say otherwise," he orders.
I obey, and when I touch the ball, the transparent crystal tablet changes color to black, and white letters start to appear in a style that's exactly like the "Menu"'s, then I notice that the letters are in Andraste, but my "Menu" is in English.
Curious.
The man carefully reads the tablet, and I notice that my new name is written right at the top. I'm glad I took the time to write it.
He knits his eyebrows and comments with a worried tone, "Hmm… there's nothing wrong here, but you're awfully low level for someone of your age, and what's up with those skills? No Conjuring, Fire, Space, or even [Light Magic]? Also, no life skills, and though you have a language skill, you don't have [Writing] like a scribe should…" -He raises his head and looks at me bemusedly as he stifles a laugh- "What kind of sheltered child are you? I've never seen a combination of skills like yours."
"Well… uh, I’m…" I desperately search for an answer and look away.
Well, he's not lying. My life on Earth could seem sheltered in comparison to the people of this world. Also, I could come up with an excuse, but that would just give more rope to the conversation. Even if he looks down on me, I shouldn't speak carelessly.
"I'm a bit sheltered, yes," I admit and blush in embarrassment.
"Hah! it's kind of a miracle you survived the Sea of Trees… Well, anyway, since you have some combat skills, go to the monster hunter guild or the dungeoneering guild if you want to survive here. The Sea isn't like the Mainland, so don't go out there alone or without preparation again," he talks down at me with a tired tone as if I was a stupid kid, which he knows I am since he saw my age in my "Status." Then his tone instantly shifts into a commanding one as he adds, "Now, let me see what's in your backpack."
The way he said Sea of Trees makes me think this is the true name of that forest.
I open my backpack and show all the things that I have inside.
"Alright. The ball says you don't have an [
Item Box
], so the tax is just going to be one silver coin for entry, and five copper for using the status stone."
[
Item Box
]? Perhaps it's different from my "Items" ability. There was something called [Space Magic], so perhaps [
Item Box
] could be found there?
I silently pay him the amount.
He advises me like one advises your little brother, "The guilds give free IDs, so go register there, and you don't need to pay tax depending on which ID you show." Then a subtle glint appears in his eyes. "Also, is this your first time here? I can sell you a map for ten copper coins," he offers with a grin that shows a set of very white teeth.
"Alright, I’ll take one."
I pay him and he hands me a sealed scroll made from roughly textured paper.
He shows a business smile and says with a practiced tone, "Then that's all. Welcome to Rabanara, the great fortress on the shore of the Sea of Trees."
I ask for an inn recommendation within the middle price range, and he tells me to go to the Resting Spring's Inn, then he waves me away.
--
The map is quite crude and lacks beauty, but it gives the location of all the important locations. The Bazaar, the Flea Market, the Farmer's Market, the Guild's Corridors, the Crafter's Corner, the Gambling Den, the Theater, the Carnival Field, the Colosseum, the slums, the commoners' area, the Nobles' Quarter, the multitudes of inns, and the brothel district. After some searching, I find the Resting Springs.
As I walk through the streets, I see a large amount of weird-looking people. People with animal ears, tails, claws, snouts, patches of fur, animal-looking digitigrade feet, and hands that almost look like paws in any sort of combination imaginable. People with horns, tails, wings, and plenty of other weird body parts. Skin colors of all the colors of the rainbow. Most wearing very revealing clothing, and plenty are floating around or flying slowly. Their clothes go from delicate togas and kimonos, to rough and boring medieval clothes, and some even use straight-up animal pelts like stereotypical barbarians. It's a carnival of people with mismatched armor and weapons, and with body types ranging from big, burly, and tough, to small, cute, and scrawny.
Not only is the populace interesting, but the town itself is also fascinating. It's like someone partially demolished a cobble building, then used whatever wood they had to rebuild it but also used a different architectural style. It's like the town is a patchwork.
All of the buildings have odd, crooked shapes, and they're made of a mix of a dark and light wood with white and dark-blue cobblestone. They don't look hastily made, though, as both the stone and wood are full of relief, details, and decorations. Some buildings have heavily jettied floors, giving it a comfy look as they "lean" towards the street, and others have an assortment of statues and other decorations on supporting pillars, and some even have vines growing directly from the beams.
Truly an odd town.
All those things in combination with the bizarre architecture makes me feel like I'm actually the normal and well-dressed one. I see even a few small animals that look a bit human-like in their behavior. They run around like children, appearing and disappearing out of thin air.
Surprisingly, the town looks clean and doesn't smell even though horses are everywhere. Behind nearly every wagon, there is a floating yellow broom that sweeps the floor by itself without even lifting dust, it's like it just makes shit disappear. Perhaps these are spells that keep the roads clean.
--
The inn is close by, and there are still a few hours until sunset, but my body and mind are exhausted. All I want is to rest for a little while.
The inn is a large building. It isn't as crooked as the other ones, and it's made entirely out of cobblestone. It has three floors and gives off a rustic feeling. There's no spring, though. I've been lied to.
Once I enter, a middle-aged man with a small chin, brown hair, and small circle glasses greets me from behind a desk while he writes in a book with an ink quill.
"Welcome to the Resting Springs Inn. Would you like a room?" He asks with a kind tone and a gentle smile.
"Yes, please. What kind of rooms do you have?" I calmly reply.
"We have a only few single-bed rooms on the third floor, but on the second floor, there's still a lot of space in the communal room."
The communal bed might be one cheap room where multiple people sleep together. No, thank you.
"Single bed, please," I politely request.
"That'll be one silver a day, would you like to reserve the room for multiple days?"
Uh… my brain is not working properly.
"Ten days…" I come up with a random number.
He nods and smiles again. "We also give breakfast and dinner, five copper for each meal. During dinner, the public bathhouse is open, and the bath is included with the meal, but personal bathing rooms can be reserved by ten copper. There's also a magician responsible for the bath that you can rent personally for fifteen copper at any time."
Food is cheap, a bed is not...
I (try to) think for a moment, then I answer, "I'd like both meals for each day. Also, what's the exchange rate for silver and copper coins?"
He stares blankly for a moment, likely surprised at my question, then he recomposes himself and answers in his usual gentle tone, "Avgi silver coins are equal to ninety copper coins."
Perhaps this is not something people normally ask him. Also, now that he said "Avgi coins" I notice that there's something written on the coins. It's written in the [Andraste Language], but it's only a few letters and some numbers, so perhaps it's some identification?
I pay the innkeeper and he gives me a key with the number 304 on it, and a smaller black key.
He assumes a practiced tone and recites, "Here it is, room four on the third floor. The smaller key opens a safe. Once you leave, give me the room key, but keep the safe key, and don't leave anything valuable outside of the safe. The safe can only be opened by us after your stay ends. Finally, would you like to be called for breakfast and dinner?" He gives me a business smile.
I don't have a watch or an alarm clock. I'll never get up at the right time without them.
"Yes," I awkwardly respond with a nod.
He turns the book around and hands me his ink quill, then points to a blank line. "Please write your name here."
I start to write my name and my hand just moves by itself. It's a very odd feeling, like I'm doing things by reflex only. I don't really know what I'm writing until it is done and the language skill tells me that I've written "Wolf Ryder." The squished characters are a bit difficult to tell apart, but something tells me that my calligraphy is perfect.
"Thank you for your patronage," he adds and bows slightly, then I nod and walk towards the stairs.
The inside of the inn is made entirely of light brown wood. It's simple and a little cramped, but perhaps they just wanted to maximize the number of rooms. I notice that shining jewels on the ceiling are illuminating the inn; they're basically weak light bulbs.
I enter my room and lock the door, then I take off my sword belt, boots, and jacket. I sigh in relief, then I drop on the bed and fall asleep.
--
I dream of the unpleasant sensation of cutting flesh with my sword.
--
A knock on the door wakes me up.
"The dinner is ready, and the bath is hot," the muffled voice of a young woman reaches my ears.
I don't know what the bed is made of. It's not hard, but it's not really good for my back. I might need to search for a proper bed if I'm going to stay here for a while.
I put my clothes back on and go downstairs.
On the first floor, there's a communal hall with a few square tables and chairs. A small number of commoners are sitting about, waiting for the food, and I see more people are coming down the stairs.
I sit and wait, and soon, a plate comes to me. Vegetable stew, a piece of roasted mutton with spice and herbs, and a piece of fluffy, white bread. It tastes okay, the stew lacks some spice, but the mutton is well done. Perhaps due to the prominence of woolen clothing sheep are a staple food.
After eating, I go through the back door and reach the baths. Contrary to every single fucking medieval novel, baths aren't that rare. The Romans loved baths, you know, bathhouses were a thing throughout history, you know.
I ask the attendant at the front about how it works. They use the heat of the kitchen coupled with the help of a mage to heat the water of the bath, so that's the source of the mist coming out of the doors ahead. It makes me quite happy that I'll be able to get some hot water to sink in and not just a towel bath.
For four pieces of copper, I'll get a towel, a very small piece of rough soap, and a sponge. The bath is divided into three parts: men, women, and mixed. Using the men or women's costs another piece of copper. Curiosity gets the best of me and I enter the mixed one, which is free for the patrons of the inn.
Let's say that some light prostitution is going on over there. I immediately leave and pay for the men's bath. I'm not a puritan, but seeing sex live is too awkward for me right now.
The etiquette is that you first gather a bucket of water, then use it to wash away all the dirt with the sponge and soap, then you're allowed to relax in the pool of hot water.
So I start washing, but I start to feel conscious of my body. Most men here are somewhat handsome. I'm not ugly and I have a cute baby face, but damn, are all the people in this world at least somewhat attractive?
When I get out of the bath, it's already night, and the people are either going to bed or to a tavern to drink. I don't really drink, so I go to bed early today.
I lay down on my not so comfortable bed and spend some time reflecting on what happened today. I got sucked out of my wedding into a painful, dangerous, magical, insane, and ridiculous world. I killed two humanoid beings in a very gory way, I killed a bizarre animal, and I killed a huge bear that almost killed me. If not for [
Regeneration
], I think I would be dead now.
What kind of god would throw me here at this precise timing? Fuck you, God. Or help me, help me because I want to go home, I want to see my wife, I want to hug her, kiss her, and have sex with her, then have her fall asleep in my arms and wake up seeing her smile. Fuck this world. Either help me, please, or get yourself fucked, God!
I feel something "change" inside of me. I open my "Menu" and look at my "Status." My "Piety" increased from zero to two.
I break down and cry myself to sleep.
--
--
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