Morning light and the sound of birds mixed with image and sound of a short man on a horse approaching me from the direction of the road. Both were stocky and defined, seemingly strong. The man wore plain clothing and sported an impressive beard with all kinds of trinkets woven and braided into it. He stopped a short distance away from me, “Oi, kid, you sure you’re being safe like that?” A gruff voice called to me.
I dragged myself into a sitting position, my body aching from sleeping on the ground like this and replied. “Safe how? I… I didn’t run into anything along my way, so… I’d assumed there was nothing to run into.”
The man chuckled and dismounted. I could suddenly tell that he wasn’t just short, but unusually so, and his defined physique stuck out more. Then it clicked: this might be a dwarf if they existed in this world. “There are beasts around here that would not hesitate to attack. You’re lucky, traveling along and sleeping rough, getting through the night safely.” He extended a hand, offering to help me stand up, which I took.
“Thank you, my body is a bit sore.” I said as I stood up. I could fully tell neither man nor horse was even my height. Definitely dwarf. “What do you suggest… I do, then?”
The dwarf barked out a single loud ‘ha’. “For starters, maybe not travel on your own. We’re close enough to Flebrook that I can walk. Let me join you?”
“Uhm, sure.” I replied meekly. I don’t do well with these strong presence types.
“Thank you kindly, kid. Name’s Nichlas, of the Sunderguard clan. How about you?” He kept his grip into a handshake from helping stand up.
“Uh, Sebastian. Sebastian Harris.” I shook his hand meekly. Really too strong of a type for me to handle…
“A last name! Must be someone important then. I knew a Sebastian. Was a good man. I hope he’s doing well.” Nichlas said and rubbed his chin, the handshake over. His grip was strong and his hand rock solid. Felt like he could crush my own hand without meaning, which meant he has incredible control. I was impressed. As I was still marveling at him, Nichlas removed his backpack and took out a something packed in wax paper from it. From inside that came a large piece of cured meat, and from within the backpack also came some rough bread.
“It’s not much, but it’s food, and you’re probably wanting breakfast, right?” Nichlas gestured with his head as he handed me a piece of bread with some meat he had cut off the larger hunk. It did seem a bit iffy, but it’s not as though my dried rations were any better, probably. We ate in silence, standing up.
Once we were done, he repacked everything into his backpack and strapped that onto his short, stout horse. He’d offered the same for my backpack, but I respectfully declined. It’d be a dumb mistake to just let someone take away my backpack and put it on an animal that can easily move faster than me. That’s how you get robbed.
“So, kid, what takes you to Flebrook? To such a small town, out of the way of everything?” The Dwarf asked as we walked.
I chuckled and replied with something I’d managed to think of in advance. “Woke up one morning and decided somewhere small and quiet is the perfect place to start an adventure.”
Nichlas laughed heartily and smacked my shoulder, though he had to make an effort to do so. “A future adventurer, then! That makes sense, with the equipment you’re sporting. Reminds me to inform you that adventurers try not to sleep in their armor.”
“Yeah… that makes sense…” I slumped inward, feeling judged but for a good reason. “Could you imagine I’m not really from around here and answer some questions?”
Nichlas cocked an eyebrow at that but nodded. “Doesn’t sound like you’re not local, but sure. What do you want to know?”
“There are all kinds of things, but right now what interests me the most is how much I can expect to spend on lodgings and food. Money’s tight and I want to plan ahead.”
“Depends on how well you want to sleep for the night. A penny will get you a fine enough straw bed in a dormitory, but you’re out half a shilling if you want a room all your own. Between you and I, getting the room is the better investment, especially if you have luggage you want to keep safe.” Nichlas admitted, setting my expectations.
I’d counted my coins before leaving and I had 3 shillings and 12 pence right now. The difference between 8 days of lodgings and over a month is stark, not to mention if I had anything else I needed to get. “And how about meals?”
“Good meals? Roughly a penny each. Although… you could spend as little as a bit to get some food in you. It won’t be a good meal. I had a meal like that more often than I’d like to admit, in my past.” Nichlas chuckled; a bit embarrassed.
I had no idea whether that felt expensive, but at 6 bits to the penny I could stretch that out some. I needed to figure out moneymaking soon. “One final big question… how would I register as an adventurer, exactly?”
That question made Nichlas stop and stare for a moment. “All this gear and you’re not yet an adventurer? You might be the best equipped newbie I have seen outside spoiled noble kids going for it.” He started walking again, “It costs a shilling to register, for starters. You don’t need to know how to read nor write, but you’ll definitely have a leg up if you do know. There’s a form, after which you are issued a tag to put on your person identifying as an adventurer. The tag contains information about where you registered, when, and some basic identification.”
That was significantly less fantastic than I hoped for, this mundane tag system. Considering how convoluted good magic is in this world, it does make sense it’d be this mundane. The rest of the half day to Flebrook had me asking about Nichlas and replying about myself. Nichlas is a day laborer coming back from his village, where he visited his sick brother. The horse is his brother’s, better serving an able-bodied person.
By the time we arrived in Flebrook I felt like I made a friend and followed Nichlas to his own inn, where I got a dorm bed for now. My plan was to bunk up for the night, get registered as an adventurer by the next day, and try to make a single shilling. If I can work enough to afford a room of my own, I will put in that work.
Additionally, the extended walking of the last 2 days netted me a new skill called Basic Hiking and that at level 2 by the time we entered Flebrook, so I was 11 points richer.
Flebrook itself was something of a textbook town for a fantasy setting. A wooden will ringed the city center, which lay upon a stream and spread to either side. The stream was not deep enough for boats but did serve the fresh water needs of the town, which was lively and maybe even bustling.
———————————————————
That evening, while heading out to eat with Nichlas, I spotted something weird in an alley we passed by. A twinkling on the ground, which had been conspicuous, made me stop in my tracks. Nichlas asked me what’s wrong and couldn’t see what I was talking about in the alley. I decided to come back later, as supper had priority.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Nichlas led me to a small restaurant outside the city center and even treated me to a meal. I tried insisting I can pay for myself, but he had none of that. The meal was some stew, warm bread, and even an apple tart for dessert. I don’t know how he got all that for a penny per each of us, but he did.
Over supper we talked more, about Nichlas’ village and whatever I could share about my own origins. He comes from Ellinge, a quaint village around a day on foot from Flebrook, along the road. His family are stone workers, but work has become scarce lately, so he and his other siblings have spread out as day laborers.
As for me, I shared that I had a master teach me quarterstaff combat. I lived in a rough part of the city I came from, and it served as self-defense. I never quite had enough money to spend on food, so I always cooked in the most basic manner I could. My family was poor, so I also ended up doing work just to support them. I feel as though we bonded.
Once we were done eating, I told Nichlas that I’d like to go back to that one alley to investigate something. He didn’t mind, but still thought there was nothing there. We traced our path back to it and the twinkling had remained.
I walked up to it and as I got closer, a panel popped up.
Unaligned object entity discovered.
Approach to request Alignment Shift.
Nearly instantly I could feel Rep’s presence practically flood in.
*Curious… That’s not supposed to happen. Sebastian, could you get closer and let me do that?*
I got very surprised by Rep having initiated a conversation for the first time ever and contacting me after a pretty silent week. “I guess? What’s this ‘Unaligned’ thing?” I whispered back, so Nichlas would think I’m strange and talking to myself as I moved closer. As I did, the twinkling proved to be the outline of a translucent object. It looked like an orb with evenly spaced bumps all over it.
*My console is requesting Providence, which I need you to authorize use of. This is a first for me. I’ve never seen a console do this. May I?*
A panel popped up with a yes/no prompt. I briefly considered it before just tapping yes discreetly. The panel disappeared and something started happening to the bumpy orb outline. It slowly sharpened and proved to be more of a spiky orb, though the spikes were admittedly shallow, in a deep purple color. Its size was about as big as my fist and after it fully materialized, it broke into motes of light which flowed into me. I got another panel.
Attribute Point acquired.
You may raise the base score of any attribute of your choice by 1.
Raising your attribute this way may be done at any time from your Character screen.
That certainly surprised me, and I could feel some surprise coming from Rep as well, through our strange connection.
*That was unexpected. I think I have failed to mention this, but your specific brand of system is… experimental. There are some features we just can’t anticipate, and this seems like one. If I were you, I’d be on the lookout for more of these Unaligned object entities. You might be in for more surprises.*
“I suppose I will be. I’ll have to think how to invest this one. Thanks.” I whispered the reply. “I’ll get back to my new friend now. Good night, Rep.”
*Good night, Sebastian.*
With that, I returned to Nichlas, who was a bit dumbfounded by my having gone into an alley, mumbled to myself, seemed to swipe at air, and returned after no obvious change has occurred. I assured him there was something and that it was resolved, but he seemed a bit skeptical. As we walked back to the inn, our conversation quieted down a bit, and became more sporadic.
Despite the straw bed I slept on, that night my sleep was better than it had been since coming to Estand.
Sebastian Harris
Reserves
Health: 140/140
Focus: 170/170
Mana: 170/170
Providence: 17/18
Attributes (1)
Body 14 [10+40%]
Mind 17 [12+40%]
Magic 17 [12+40%]
Luck 18 [14+30%]
Masteries
Central Continent Common 2
Melee Combat 1
Self-Awareness 1
Spell-casting 1
Skills
Basic Camping 1
Basic Cooking 7
Basic Healing 1
Basic Healing Magic 2
Basic Honesty 4
Basic Hunting 1
Basic Light Magic 2
Basic Mace Fighting 6
Basic Mechanic 7
Basic Money Management 3
Basic Pain Tolerance 6
Basic Shield Training 6
Basic Stealth 5
Intermediate Quarterstaff Fighting 1
Techniques
Beam of Light 2
Cleanse Wounds 2
Cure Wounds 2
Healing Radiance 2
Knockout Blow 1
Leg Sweep 3
Light Orb 2
Power Strike 1
Powerful Jab 6
Shield Bash 1
Swift Block 1
Systems
Character 1
Compass 1
Conversation History 0
Guide Book 1
Notifications 1
Personal Light 1
Shop 1
Points: 61
Currency: 3s 11p