CHAPTER 2: A NEW WORLD
A blue sky - probably about noon if the sun was any indication - and not a cloud in the sky. Suddenly, the face of a snot-nosed brat entered his field of vision. Blonde hair - short and unruly - blue eyes and worry written all over his face. They boy's worry visibly melted off his face and turned into a grin as he noticed Arcanis' eye were open. Still slightly disoriented, Arcanis stood up - the boy moving away the moment he saw the stranger start to rise.
"Who are you?" The innocent boy - he could hardly be older than six or seven years old - asked the weird stranger he had found.
Looking around, Arcanis found himself in a forest clearing. The trees - green with healthy leaves - showing the healthy strength of summer and would likely belong to a temperate climate. No immediate threat was visible so he looked down at the boy. Well-Fed, clothing looks simple but sturdy and well-patched, probably the son of peasants that are doing well enough. "Hello young man, I'm Arcanis. What is your name and could you please tell me where I am?"
The boy looked at him in a curious manner "Well, I'm Timothy but everybody just calls me Tim, so feel free to do the same! And you are in the forest, silly!"
Grinning back at Tim, Arcanis answered "Well thanks, I hadn't noticed yet! Can you tell me which forest it is and where I can find the nearest town?"
Thinking for a bit with a frown on his face, Tim replied "It's the big forest!" Pointing in a direction "You can find our village over in that direction, should be but a few minutes with your long legs! Want me to take you there?"
"Lead the way, Timothy."
Giving Arcanis an odd look as he used Tim's full name, Tim led off in the direction he had indicated. Arcanis followed him without undue difficulties but used the time to inspect himself a bit. He appeared to be of reasonable height compared to a child, but without other adults it would be difficult to judge whether he was particular large or small this time around. Not particular fit or muscled either, which was to be expected given his chosen path. He wore a brown hemp robe, plain and simple with some undergarments of unknown make - comfortable enough to get by, but definitely with potential for upgrade. No weapon or other equipment on hand, but he had the odd feeling, that he had ... "stuff", for lack of better word. That something was there even though he did not see it.
Satisfied that the stranger was following him, Tim led the way but did not ask any further questions. After a few minutes they reached the end of the forest - there was not much scrub, so it had been easy going - and stepped out onto a meadow with a few cows grazing placidly. On the other side he could indeed see a small village or maybe hamlet. Not more than a dozen houses, built close to the forest with fields on the other side. A simple street - no paving or gravel visible, though obviously well enough used by carts or wagons, lay between village and fields and lead off into the distance in both direction. Most villagers appeared to be working on the fields, but the boy led them to one of the houses.
Opening the wooden door to the house Tim called "Hey mom, I'm back. Look what I found in the forest!" Then lead Arcanis further into the house.
A woman's voice answered back "And what were ye doing in the forest all alone, Tim? I believe I remember telling ye ye were not to go there alone. Not too long ago too, so yer memory should not yet have failed ye."
Following Tim inside, Arcanis found himself in a large room - living room, kitchen and storage in one from all appearances. An obviously pregnant woman - she looked to be in her 8th month if Arcanis were to judge - turned towards them as she finished speaking and turned silent as she spotted the stranger.
In a defensive voice Tim replied "But mama, there was this strange light and I just had to look!"
"Well, and what would ye have done if it were something bad?" The woman answered, giving the young rascal a sharp glance.
Slightly less secure of the superiority of his argument Tim defensively crossed his arms "I would have run and told da' "
Nodding slightly at that but not conceding his point she turned to the stranger in her house. "Sorry for that stranger. Also for the direct question but ... who are ye and what were ye doing alone in the forest?"
Smiling at her Arcanis replied smoothly "No worries madam, I'm Arcanis and what I was doing in the forest ... well, truth be told, I'm not sure. You see, I don't remember how I got there." If previous experience had told him anything, then that faking memory loss was a lot less trouble than trying to explain the actual truth. "Actually, I can't rightly say I remember much of anything beyond my own name. I just woke up on this beautiful day when kind Timothy found me and led me here." Turning to the boy "Thanks for saving me from that spot of trouble by the way, no memories and fully lost in a forest is certainly not my idea of fun!"
She smiled a bit fondly at her son as the stranger thanked him. Then inspecting Arcanis a bit more closely "Well, I'm Rakia, nice to meet ye. Ye appear to be a friendly enough person so I don't mind letting ye get yer bearings and stay the night ... so long as ye don't mind staying in the barn, that is. Be a bit full here already, once the menfolk come in from the field. If ye want to stay longer, we'd have to talk with the ealdorman." Looking a bit longer at him "Ye look like a right wizard apprentice to me. From the cloths could be a herbalist too, but the smell ain't right. Maybe an experiment gone bad? Why don't'cha check yer status? Might find a clue there"
Smiling at her gratefully Arcanis replied "Thank you very much and I would really like that - don't mind the barn either. If you could point me towards the nearest city tomorrow that would be great. As for the status ... well, that sounds like a good idea, but ... how do I check it?"
"That bad, is it? Well, it's simple enough as it is. Just think the word strongly and will yer status to show up and it should pop right up in front of yer eyes. Not that anybody but yerself can see it, mind ye."
Doing as instructed, it didn't take more than a bare second to show up.
Name: Arcanis
Classes
None
Attributes
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 10
Mana: 10
Power: 10
Derived Attributes
HP: 60
EP: 60
MP: 60
Skills
-
Languages
Herani (Mother language)
Spells
Firebolt*
Titles
-
Traits
-
Innate Abilities
Gift of Magic
Magic Researcher
Linguist
Well, well, well, looks like ... a pretty bland new character, this ought to be interesting. "Well, it looks like I have a single magic spell, but not much else. No class, no skills and no traits either."
Rakia looked up at that, a horrified expression on her face. "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that! Ye look just about young enough to have just had yer Activation Day. Ye must have been whisked away by whatever happened to pretty much on the spot when it happened, given how ye managed to avoid having even a single first level skill!" She looked slightly agitated, but unsure what to do "Sorry deary, but I have no idea what to do about the memory loss. But at least ... well, if ye have a magic spell, then at least ye have the Gift of Magic, so it's safe to assume ye were meant to be a wizard's apprentice. I heard it said they keep records of all the Wizards - and apprentices - in the capital at the academy. They might not yet know about ye yerself, but at least yer prospective master should be known there. Ye probably should travel there and see whether someone knows ye. At the very least, they should be able to help ye regain yer memories."
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While Arcanis knew well enough that that was not the issue, he still tried for a feeble smile and act as if he were going along with her hope.
You have unlocked the skill: Dissembling!
Dissembling (Level: 1) [Social]
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
You have pretended to be something you are not and have gotten away with it.
Naughty boy!
But with practice you will get better at it.
+1 Power, Improved Effect of dissembling
Curious. Skills grant attributes. Looks like skills define your abilities a lot more fully than the last few times.
"Let's hope you are right about that, Rakia." Offering her a more relaxed smile he continued "In the meantime, is there some menial task I can help out with that doesn't require much skill? I don't really like being idle and could use something simple to occupy myself with as I get my bearings."
That earned him a beaming smile. "Well, aren't ye a deary. If ye really want to help, go right ahead! The yard could use some sweeping and the cows some brushing, if ye don't mind tending them temperamental beasties."
Nodding assent, Arcanis left and went busying himself.
* * *
Time went by swiftly as he first swept the yard, then moved on to brushing the cows - which indeed proved to have quite a bit of temperament, forcing Arcanis to dodge a kick on more than one occasion.
In the meantime he pored over his statistics and considered what strange new system he had been dropped in. Most notably, his status sheet showed no level, which was definitely a first. With no direct levels, where would the attribute points come from? Skills only or would there be other sources? At one point per level, he was not quite impressed. I wonder how many skills there are to discover out there? Is there a skill-cap or attribute-cap?
Discarding that train of thought for now, he continued on inspecting his equipment. Which was a bit of a low point, given that he really didn't have anything on him other than his robes and undergarments. Odd, usually they at least provide a beginner weapon and a bit food. Following an impulse he tried throwing mental commands at the world. Items!. Storage!. Inventory!. The final attempt yielded results, opening a new window - a small grid with 10 slots, three of which already filled. On inspection he found that it indeed contained a rough staff, some rations and a small knife. Concentrating on either would bring the item into his hands or return it into inventory.
It's been a long time since last I had an inventory system I didn't have to build myself! Things are looking up already.
The inventory also showed his monetary balance. A huge total of 10 Heranian silver. Whatever that was worth here, Arcanis was still able to summon and banish the coins as needed.
Which left for now the magic spell to be pondered. Firebolt did not exactly sound like the most powerful spell ever, but it would probably do for self defense. Some more experiments showed Arcanis that he could use the command Spell List to access a dedicated menu listing his spells.
Spells
* Firebolt*
* -
* -
Two empty slots, huh? Looks like I can memorize only three spells for now. Focusing on the first entry got him more details on the spell itself.
Spell: Firebolt
Cost 25mp Complexity 10 Cast Time 2.5 seconds Range 15m Damage 5 Fire Damage Attributes Crystallized
Creates a simple, bolt-shaped fire projectile, doing minor damage at short range.
A common beginner spell to help an aspiring wizard to do their first steps in the art without too much risk to themselves or other flammable objects.
Pretty expensive for that little damage. Also slow to cast. Looks like I need to get myself better spells - a total damage potential of 10 before I'm dry is not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to go into spellcasting
That left really only one point of curiosity. What does 'Crystallized' mean? Helpful as ever, the world refused to provide a hint, no matter what Arcanis tried.
Trying to cast the spell was not much more successful. His casting techniques from his last life as a spellcaster did not translate. Simply saying the name of the spell did also fail to produce results - probably for the best, as that would make discussing magic really dangerous. In the end it took him a few minutes and plenty of embarrassing - if anybody had been watching, anyway - attempts to make the spell work. It turned out to require Arcanis to will the spell to happen, say its name and point with his right hand in the direction it was supposed to fly.
As it also turned out, experimenting with fire magic while brushing cows was not an overly great idea. After Arcanis managed to - barely - avoid bodily harm and calm down the cows he sagely decided to postpone further magic experimentation.
After he completed his tasks he moved away from the animals and withdrew his staff from the inventory. Trying out his old moves he identified several key issues:
* He was sorely out of practice - barbarian kings do not generally use staves.
* His body had none of the muscle memory needed for most of the moves he remembered.
* With a Constitution of 10, stamina ran out real fast.
By the time the villagers returned from the fields and dinner time was around, Arcanis was utterly beat and exhausted. Even taking breaks and mixing in trying out his spell could not protect from abusing his body way beyond the limits. Being an utter weakling once again takes some real getting used to.
The dinner went by without any further events - nothing of interest happens in a small village and while travelers were expected to pay their stay in stories told, pretending to have lost his memories, Arcanis was unable to contribute anything. The most exciting discussion had been Tim retelling the tale of finding Arcanis and then getting scolded by his dad for trespassing into the woods when told not to.
Arcanis did ask a bit more about where he was, but was unable to learn much. He was in the Kingdom of Heranis, ruled by King Ludwig the Benevolent. The closest town was Erfurt, about a day's travel away, after which the next large city was Sarius, though none could reliably tell how far away that was. The closest he got was "probably less than a week". Finally the capital was called Heraklius, and for all anybody knew it was "far, far away". As Rakia put it "Them noble lords have no care for us, so why would we care for them".
Not much happens in a peasant village after the sun has fully set and thus they settled down after dinner. The barn was comfortable enough for the night and Arcanis went over his notifications of the day before giving in to his exhaustion and drifting off into tired sleep.
You have unlocked the skill: Cleaning!
Cleaning (Level: 1) [General]
"To live in filth is to not live at all"
Filth is utterly disgusting.
Fortunately, a new warrior has risen to face this vile foe.
Give it no quarter!
+1 Dexterity, +5% Cleaning Result per Level
You have unlocked the skill: Animal Husbandry!
Animal Husbandry (Level: 1) [Nature]
"If you have a dog, you will never be alone again."
There is something intrinsically relaxing to taking care of animals.
Untainted by any "higher needs" that come from modern society, there is no need to worry about honesty or betrayal.
For many it is the one way to actually find a friend that will be with them unto death.
+1 Mana, +4% Credibility when interacting with animals, +4% Sensitivity towards animals per Level
You have unlocked the skill: Magic for Dummies!
Magic for Dummies (Level: 1) [Magic]
"Not everybody can be a hero"
You have heroically mastered the art of slaying rats!
You may not really understand how you did it, but hey! It worked!
Improves your ability to cast Spells an actually competent Wizard prepared (and dumbed down) for you.
+1 Power, -2% Spell Cost of Simplified Spells per Level
You have unlocked the skill: Weapon: Staff!
Weapon: Staff (Level: 1) [Martial]
"Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Staves seem a more peaceful solution to the same problem."
To live is to struggle.
So we may not have a choice on that part, but we do get a choice in how we do our struggling.
You have chosen the staff, which is on the path of life, not death.
May this path lead to your own salvation, as well as that of your opponents.
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves per Level
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 2
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves per Level