Dad put me on the ground and I ran over to a puddle and jumped into it with all the gusto of a 5 year old. He did not seem to mind. I used ‘Foot wetter’ to pull the water off myself and cover my feet and ankles. I hope this never gets old. This world is weird, but it is nice to have something that can’t be explained for once. Not having the world's knowledge at my fingertips lets me wonder at simple things all over again as the child I now am. It’s tragic how this sense of discovery can be crushed by knowing what’s behind the curtain when we grow up in a world with easy answers. Now I can look at this world with true bewilderment. What a joy.

When I returned to my father he gave me the bag of junk I had collected from the goblins to play with as we walked along the road. The night before I did not get a chance to look at anything for any more time than it took to combine the bags together. I assumed it would all be junk but had nothing else to do while we walked.

I decided it would be fun to look at things one at a time blindly pulling them out of the bag. I casually put my hand in it and pulled out the first item. It was a rock.

Nothing special about the rock as far as I could tell. It was a river rock; it had a nice brownish colour to it with what could be a quartz streak running through it. I activated Identify on it and… nothing. I could understand why a child would like a rock like this, but why would a goblin want it? Perhaps it would make a good sling rock. I pocketed the rock. Yes, my wonderful new pants did come with pockets. However, they were the button type and were notably lacking in a zipper—I guess they don’t have that technology. Maybe I could invent it. Anyhow, on to the next item.

This one tried to poke me. I pulled it out and it looked like a pointed tooth or a fang, but it was not curved at all. It was perfectly cone shaped. I looked closely at it and there was a hole on the end and the back also had a hole so it must have come from some sort of fanged creature. I guess that could make a poison-tipped arrowhead, maybe? I don’t know anything about that sort of thing. Why else would a goblin have something like this? Also once again Identify showed me nothing about it.

After putting that away I reached in for another and found a coin. It looked to be copper and quite tarnished. I got it wet and rubbed it with my fingers to get the dirt off it to see what was on it. To my surprise it looked to be a human head of a man with a crown and bushy beard. It had some sort of words inscribed on it and a clear glass-like cylinder in the centre going through it that was flush with the metal around it. On the back was a lot of writing and a geometric pattern. The craftsmanship of the coin was exceptional. It matched what I would expect from my world using modern equipment; this world must be using some kind of magic for this. Identify was kind enough to show me something for the coin. (Type: Copper Charge Coin).

I found about thirty more coins as I was rummaging through the bag. The only notable difference between them is all the rest were tin charge coins and there were no more copper ones. The tin ones were also a lot thicker than the copper one but had a smaller diameter. There were also three more fangs and a bunch of river stones. Lastly, there were a handful of small carved sticks that Identify showed as idols so I promptly yeeted them into bushes.

We arrived at a square, out-of-place stone building. Yes, all the other buildings were stone and most were somewhat square, but a lot of them were more artistic in design, often including cylinders and flowing curves in the design. This was just a perfectly square box. It just screamed I don’t belong in this elven village. It did not even have the customary vines growing on it. Every other building I had seen so far was covered in vines and plants. There were no windows and only one door on the far corner of the building.

We entered it and the room was quite small and there was an elven man standing at the back (Male Elf: Gárénthál, Stonesmith). He was a bit shorter and stockier than most other male elves I had seen so far, but still taller and slimmer than a human would be. He also had a Chad chin jawline. Dad and Gar started talking and it was not long before he was handed some coins. I tried to get a look at them to see if they were anything like the one found on the goblins but I could not see above the countertop.

Everyone exited the building and Gar the Stonesmith went to the far end of the building and put his hand on the stone at the end of the building. His hand started to glow red and then a massive stone slid out of the building and he picked it and placed it onto a cart as if it weighed nothing. All the stones above it gently slid down and took its place. He repeated the process a few more times slowly taking chunks of the building. No, I think I am wrong, this is not a building, it’s a stockpile. I wish I could talk, this would be so much easier. Once the cart was full Gar grabbed the handles and simply walked the cart away as if he was pulling a small light wagon behind him. We did not follow but I had the feeling I knew where he was going. I don’t want to keep assuming things but I think I might be getting my own room.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

When on the way to the next place we started to play the word game again. I still had no meaningful grammar to work with, but I was feeling like my vocabulary was increasing at a good pace. I was quite surprised how easy it was to remember the words he was sharing with me. The catch was I had the hardest time pronouncing them. They always came out just a little bit wrong. He did not seem to mind though and looked genuinely happy to see me trying to say the words. By the time we had gotten to the next stop I think I had even worked out how to say “what’s that” or at least I hoped that’s what I was saying when I pointed to things. I wonder how long until I learn the word for no.

Our next stop was the wonderful blacksmith’s place. I could not remember his name, but with Identify this would no longer be an issue. (Male Elf: Báshénthál, Blacksmith). How did I not notice this sooner? I am so calling him Bash. Dad handed him the nightstalker tail spike along with some coins then we headed off without getting to watch anything exciting this time. Just as well that tail was uncomfortable to think about let alone look at.

We arrived at what I could only assume was an open market. Vendors lined the side of the street and a bunch of elves were busy going about their day buying and selling. It did not look like a place that the night before had just been attacked but I guess life must go on. I have no idea how often something like this happens; for all I know it could be just another Tuesday.

But that quest, it kept nagging at the back of my mind. I needed to have a conversation with the system about it, but I decided that would be a tomorrow problem. I continued following Dad around for the day trying to pick up new words and just see the town as he went about doing what looked to be basic shopping and errands. I just needed a simple day and it was turning out to be just that.

The crowd started to part as an elf rode up along the busy street. He was on a tall, slender horse. He stopped to talk with my father so I was able to get a good look at the horse. It was brown with gray arch-shaped stripes along its back, with a perfectly white tail. The elf sat on a long maroon saddle. I had no idea what kind of saddle it was or even if it would be comparable to anything from where I came from. I was a city boy. I tried Identify; it showed it as (Type: Comfort Saddle). Before I could find out what else was going on, Dad picked me up, put me on the horse, and then hopped up on it as well. Then we were off, the three of us riding on this magnificent horse. I must say the seat was very comfortable.

We rode for about an hour at a rapid pace. I spent most of my time looking at the scenery as we traveled through plains beside the forest line as they were ignoring me as they talked. I saw more jackalopes and birds. The birds kept their distance from us and so did what looked like a herd of buffalo, but they were too far away to use Identify on. We slowed down when we entered the forest line, but the horse still nimbly travelled through the brush-covered ground. The forest canopy was quite thick, yet I was able to see without issues. For about the first 30 min I was confused how everything was so bright and clear. Then I remembered the ‘Night vision’ trait and felt a little dumb for forgetting about it.

We slowed as we approached a small clearing. The ground was clear, but the forest canopy still covered the area. There were five male elves all standing around guarding and three in the middle. My mother was sitting nearby and there was an elven male leaning over Envinyátar—the man who had healed me with basic healing before and has a familiar resemblance to my father. I would shorten his name, but I did not want to call him Envi. Perhaps Yatar?

As we approached, I got a better look at him as he was lying on the ground unconscious. He looks beaten to a pulp. There is a large broken off tusk in his chest and his face looks mangled. If it was not for ‘Identify’ I would not have known it was him and I would have thought he was dead. All the elves were rangers except for the elf leaning over him (Male Elf: Bréatathándil, Mage) doing what looks to be some sort of magical CPR on him. His hands were softly glowing as he was forcing air in and out of his lungs.

Dad quickly hopped off the horse and rushed over, putting his hands on Yatar’s chest. He began casting minor healing on him. They removed the tusk and bandaged him up but he still looked to be in bad shape. It clearly was not enough.

So much for my simple day. “System, is there anything I can do to help?” I asked.

[Now would be a good time to share your quest with your father.]

Confused, I asked “Why is that?” After all, I did not want to do that quest or even think about it at the moment.

[The quest reward will help.]

I groaned. This world is determined to force my path. “Fine... How do I share the quest with my dad?”

[Would you like to share the quest “Kill the Orc chieftain known as Thrug” with Elanthrál? Yes/No]

“Yes”

Dad froze, said something and everyone turned to look at me. Dad had wide eyes and a look I could not describe. I had the feeling that the next few months were going to be interesting and not in the way I wanted them to be.