Being led out of the rather immense castle by a friendly knight by the name of Stuart I got my first good look at my new world and it was breath-taking.
“Quite the sight, no?” Stuart laughed as he slapped me on the back.
“Indeed.” I spoke breathlessly as I looked out over the immense layered city that spread out before me.
“The inner city is where most nobles and priests live.” Stuart spoke as he pointed out the churches and the incredible white and walled in estates of the high nobility. “In the middle section the artisans, merchants and the city guard live.” There was a noticeable difference in the size of the houses here. Many of the houses in this section were made of wood instead of marble of the castle and estates of the nobility. “You will also find the best inns and the guild in the central part of the middle section.” I was amazed by what I saw. It looked like a medieval super city and I began to wonder how many people actually lived here. “In the outer section is the residential area of the commoners. It is by far the largest section and I recommend that you stay on any of the three main roads.” He pointed at the three roads that cut straight out from the inner city to the outer of the three walls. “As even I am likely to get hopelessly lost if I walk too far off the main road in the outer city.” Stuart laughed but became silent and saluted as someone ran up from behind.
Looking back I saw a sweating and concerned looking chancellor arrive next to me with a small leather pouch that clinked pleasantly as he ran.
“I’m terribly sorry about this entire thing sir!” He wheezed out as he bowed deeply to me. This caused Start and the guards at the gate to look at me with surprise.
“Uhmm… no… it's fine, please raise your head!” I tried to persuade the man a bit terrified by the stares I was getting. The soldiers might have been emitting a neutral white colour but I was unsure how far I could trust my new sixth sense.
“It most certainly is not!” The chancellor shouted, a bit of fire in his dark green eyes. “This is most certainly not how one should receive a guest, not to even mention a champion of the gods!” The old man huffed before he calmed himself. “I’m terribly sorry, where are my manners? My name is Hector Alvian, I am the chancellor of the great duchy of Elianor.” He bowed and smiled waiting for me to introduce myself.
“Oh, I’m Victor Lynth. It is a pleasure to meet you.” I bowed to the chancellor doing my best to mimic his movement.
“Sir Lynth, it is a great honour to meet you.” His smile faltered a bit. “I apologize for the duchess's behaviour.” He bowed once more and continued. “I will try and talk some sense into the duchess, but for now take this.” He handed over the pouch and I could see the glimmer of gold from within it. “I would love to offer you a room in the castle, yet I will have to settle for recommending the Gilded Hog in the central district for your accommodations. Just say that I sent you and they will gladly rent you a good room for a reasonable price.” He gave me a troubled smile.
“Thanks, if nothing else I will make sure to repay your kindness.” I bowed once more and the chancellor smiled, nodded and left almost as quickly as he had arrived.
We just stood there for a moment, watching the chancellor recede into the castle.
***
Sitting down in her study and angrily sipping her tea, Minerva Antala Elianor looked out at her city from the massive balcony in her sitting room. It did not take long for the interruption she was expecting to arrive.
“Your grace.” The head of her guard spoke in his deep voice from the outside of her personal chambers. “The chancellor is requesting an audience.” That was all he said, as the old veteran knew his place.
“…” Minerva let the silence stretch, thinking of how badly she wanted to just ignore the old man. Alas she could not ignore this old man. “Let him in.” She sighed and the old man entered with a deep bow.
“Your grace.” He spoke curtly and she could see the angry gleam in his eyes.
“Chancellor.” She spoke imperiously and gave only the slightest nod of the head.
“Your grace…” The chancellor straightened his back and took a deep breath. “What are you thinking?” The chancellor’s voice was reproachful.
“Watch your tone.” The guard that had entered with the chancellor almost growled. He was in the younger generation of the duchess’s guards and the chancellor ignored him and the duchess gave him a flat look which caused the man to flush and take a step back bowing.
“I think I will take destiny into my own hands.” She spoke firmly and sipped her tea.
“Your grace?” The chancellor was obviously confused. When the duchess did not respond his expression turned firm once more. “Do you know what you have done?” His voice was angry now.
“Yes.” She continued to sip her tea but spoke once more before her chancellor could speak. “Did you look at that man?” She glanced at her chancellor in annoyance.
This took the chancellor by surprise. He looked at his liege, and thought for a moment. He had indeed ‘looked’ at the young man named Victor. He had stealthily cast a low level identify spell and taken a peek at Victor’s gifts. Since it was only a peek however he had only seen that Victor was level 1 and had 9 skills, an absurd amount for someone at level 1! Even more extraordinary was that at least one of those skills was a special skill, a gift from the very gods.
The chancellor was looking at his liege expectantly. Casting an identify spell on a guest was the height of rudeness which is why he himself had been so careful. He had cast only the lowest level which was the hardest to detect and he had done so stealthily as soon as the young man appeared. Now he wondered if he had made a mistake. For what had his liege seen to turn aside a champion of the gods?
“If you have seen him then you know.” She paused and snorted angrily. “No way am I going to marry such a dull looking weakling.” What the duchess said completely broke the chancellor out of his deep thoughts.
“… What?” was all he managed to utter.
“The goddess told me that she would be sending me ‘The man of my destiny’.” She sniffed angrily and took another sip of her tea. The chancellor just stared at the duchess blankly and only after the silence had stretched to the point where it became awkward did the chancellor speak once more.
“So you sent him away, because the goddess Amoria, our patron sent you ‘the man of your destiny’ and you did not find that man attractive? Did I get that right?” The chancellor had to fight hard not to snap at his liege. The duchess for her part looked at her chancellor angrily.
“Chancellor.” The duchess’s voice was cold. “Are you telling me that I, Duchess Minerva Antala Elianor, should accept marriage with a complete stranger because the goddess said so?” She snorted. “I’m not a priestess to some shrine maiden. My future is my own.” The chancellor had to take a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke.
“So you sent him away?”
“Yes” She answered simply, forcing the chancellor to take another deep breath.
“If you are afraid of potentially marrying him, why would you not simply choose to not do so?” The chancellor had to suppress his anger. “instead of sending away a champion of the gods. A champion, with 9 skills?!” He ended up shouting at the end and the guard took a step forward once more.
“Yes, you know that things are never so simple when the gods are involved.” Her voice was indignant.
The chancellor had to rub his temples to suppress his growing headache as he thought: “You are indeed right that anything involving the gods is never so simple. This however just caused him to sigh even heavier. “But if that is the case, do you really think that you would be able to so simply fight your destiny so simply?” The chancellor had to fight hard not to voice these thoughts.
“Besides, 9 skills are not THAT special.” The duchess spoke once more and waved her hand nonchalantly, after all she had 16 skills. The chancellor had to rub his temples to suppress his growing headache before he spoke.
“Your grace, the champion, his name is Victor Lynth by the way, is LEVEL 1!” The chancellor was furious. “He. Has. Nine. Skills. At. Level. 1.” The chancellor put weight on every single word.
***
Victor was standing outside a five story wood and stone building that looked far fancier than any medieval inn had any right to be. Well I guess I have nothing to lose. I stepped into the inn and was surprised by how many patrons were in the wide common room. I looked around and saw that most were dressed similarly to the nobles of the castle. Although the clothes the people here wore were obviously less expensive. Their colours were duller and they were frillier, as is if they had heard about the fashions the high nobles wore without actually having seen it.
“A new face!” A boisterous voice half shouted from behind the counter. “Is there anything I can do for you, my good sir?” The wide smile on the face of the man I presumed to be the innkeeper was very welcoming. This was almost a bit disturbing as he emitted a yellow ‘colour’.
“I hope so.” I walked up to the rotund man and made sure to speak in a measured voice so as not to be overheard. “Hector Alvian told me that you could provide me with a room.” This made the innkeeper's eyes go wide, but only for a moment.
“I most certainly can!” He spoke jovially and clapped me on the shoulder with a mitt sized hand from across the counter. He must have thought that he scared me because he pulled back as my eyes widened. But that was far from the truth. I was simply surprised to see the colour around him shift from a light ‘yellow’ to a very light green ‘colour’. “Annie, show this young man to the ninth room on the third floor.” The man barked and I wondered for a moment what he meant with young man but I was soon distracted by a young barmaid that quickly hurried over.
“Yes uncle.” She smiled and curtsied. “This way sir.” She had curly brown hair arranged up in a bun and with her small nose and big eyes she most certainly fell into the ‘cute’ category. Although I must say that it was a bit of an effort not to look down at her rather sizable chest. Looking around I noticed that that was a task the other patrons were handling poorly.
I followed the girl silently and felt the surprisingly hateful eyes of the other patrons on my back. I was confused how the glares they shot me could feel so menacing despite the colourless aura they were emitting. Annie for her part had the same light yellow colour that the innkeeper had sported before I had mentioned the chancellor.
“Excuse me?” I asked uncertainty as Annie walked past the third floor without a glance.
“Yes?” Annie turned back to me with a bright smile that could make the heart of any young man skip a beat. Luckily she was a bit young for my preferences so I did not make a fool of myself.
“I thought the room was on the third floor…” I trailed off.
“Ah, right it’s your first time here. There is no ninth room on the third floor, or well there is but it is a supply closet.” She smiled kindly. “Getting the ‘ninth’ room on the third floor, means that you are an important enough customer to be granted a room on the fourth floor discreetly.” Her smile turned mischievous and she pressed a finger over her mouth. “But that’s a bit of a secret so don’t go spreading it around sir.” She winked at me then and swung around and proceeded up the stairs.
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I followed after her and was soon inside a room that was several times larger than my old apartment. Annie handed me the key and told me to go see the innkeeper once I was settled in. When I was finally alone I took a deep breath and sat down on the bed that was surprisingly uncomfortable. I sat there for quite some time just looking at the luxurious room that could easily have been matched by any decent hotel on earth.
I stood up and looked out of the somewhat uneven window and got my first good look at the castle from the outside. It was huge, the only castle I had ever visited was Neuschwanstein and this monstrosity dwarfed it. Nestled up against the lone mountain peak it looked almost like a gigantic nest that overlooked the massive city. I shook my head and sat back down and with a mental command I tried opening my interface.
It was surprisingly easy but my entire field of sight was filled with a screen and a bunch of text. It was quite a headache but after a few minutes of mental gymnastics I got it down to this.
Interface:
Inventory.
Status.
Map.
Simon.
Skill table.
Notes.
Mind Palace.
I could select any of these except Mind palace and get a dropdown with the contents. If I press Mind Palace I’d instead find myself in a small comfortable library with a lot of books, far more books than what I had packed. Most of the books however were oddly faded and incomplete. Only the books I had brought with me were in perfect condition.
“Must be because the rest of the books are based on my memories.” I mumbled as I pulled out a title-less math book that I must have used in third grade. “Well, regardless of the poor quality this is quite a pleasant surprise.” I looked at the many books and with a mental command I was pulled back to reality. “Well now for the really interesting part.” I could not help but to smile as I selected Status.
Name: Victor Lynth
Level: (lvl): 1
Race: Human
Class: None
Health (HP): 90/90
Energy (E): 62/84
Mana (MP): 132
(Special) Will: 110
Attributes:
Strength (Str): 8
Agility (Agi): 9
Dexterity (Dex): 10
Vitality (Vit) :9
Endurance (End): 7
Intelligence (Int): 12
Wisdom (Wis): 11
Charisma (Cha): 9
Skills:
Special skills: Interface, Skill point system, True familiar (Simon), Sixthsense
Passive skills: Mind palace 1, Mind 1,
Active skills: Storage 3, Soul weapon 8, Telekinesis 1,
Boons: Esper
Skill points: 35
“Humm… there is a lot of extraneous info there. I wonder if I can make it easier to read?” I rubbed my chin and fiddled with my status screen for a bit and made a lot of changes. After about half an hour or so I stopped and sighed deeply. “Well that will have to do for now.” As if on cue my stomach growled. So I stood and walked out of the room. “Humm…” I looked at the key in my hand before shrugging and locking the door despite the fact that there was nothing in the room.
As I came down to the common room I saw Annie wave slightly at me, this prompted the other patrons to glare at me but I still waved back and walked up to the innkeeper.
“Was the room to your liking?” The innkeeper spoke in a measured tone as he leaned forward. I once again noticed that he was huge. Not only was he somewhat rotund as an innkeeper should be but his thick arms looked more like the ones a lumberjack would sport, not an innkeeper.
“Yes.” I nodded and pulled out the pouch I had received from the chancellor from my storage. This might have been a mistake as the innkeeper’s eyes went wide and I wondered if I had made a big mistake.
“Space attribute magic…” The innkeeper leaned back and whistled under his breath. I froze for a moment but decided to play it off.
“Good sir, I am starving.” I put on what I hope was a friendly smile and continued. “I wonder if it is possible to have some lunch even at this awkward time of day?” This apparently brought the man back from his thoughts and he stopped staring at the pouch that I had pulled out of thin air.
“Um… oh yeah sorry. My wife made some mutton stew for lunch and there should be a good bit left.” He was about to turn for the kitchen when his face scrunched up. “Also the name is Imon, no sir needed here I am just a humble innkeeper. I’m not someone a mage such as yourself should be so respectful towards.” Saying this Imon walked into the back to what I presumed to be the kitchen.
I was a bit taken aback by Imon’s suddenly reverent tone but if the whispers that I could hear all around me were anything to go by, a ‘mage’ in this world, was far rarer than I would have thought. “Or maybe mages are not rare at all, just dangerous. I mean if magic in this world is anything like the fantasy books I have read I too would be scared of mages. I mean it is like the random passer-by on the street having a completely hidden bazooka that could be fired at a moment's notice.” I shuddered as this thought struck me and it was a real effort to keep looking straight ahead as I waited for the food.
“Here you go.” The innkeeper put a deep wooden bowl filled with a fragrant stew in front of me and placed a half loaf of bread on a wooden plate next to it. “What would you like to drink, young sir?” The ‘young’ part was starting to really bother me now, I was thirty. Even on earth that could hardly be considered young and here in a mediaeval world where the life expectancy was far lower than on earth thirty could hardly be considered young.
“Just water will be fine. By the way, do you possibly have a mirror I can borrow? I did not find one in the room.”
“I do, give me a moment.” Imon disappeared into the back for a few moments and then returned with a mug filled with crystal clear room temperature water and a polished bronze sheet. I guess I should have brought a mirror. I took that ‘mirror’ and thanked the man before snorting softly.
The face that looked back at me was a bit distorted but I now knew why everyone kept adding ‘young’ when they spoke to me. I almost looked like I had before I flunked out of uni. My slightly distorted dull looking young face looked back at me from the bronze.
“Thanks.” I handed the mirror back and couldn’t suppress a chuckle. This confused Imon but I waved at him noncommittally and began eating. The stew was good but bland, the bread was hard and the water was as previously mentioned room temperature. “I guess I should have expected this…” I sighed and suddenly the 20 packs of instant noodles I had with me shot up in value. As I finished the meal I caught Imon’s eye and he strode over to me.
“So, what do I owe you for this?” I asked as I had forgotten to do that in the previous exchange I had forgotten to ask.
“Room and board is 15silver per day.” Imon put down the mug he had been cleaning. “That includes lunch, dinner and a drink.”
“Ait.” I nodded and put a gold coin on the table. I had gotten 16 gold from the chancellor and as 1 gold being equivalent to 100 silver it felt expensive. But then again this is likely one of the best inns in the city. “I’ll pay for four night for now, you may keep the change.”
Imon nodded and grinned at me. The gold coin had long since vanished into the innkeeper’s apron. “Looks like tipping is a custom that transcends worlds.” I stood up and returned to my room. Laying down on the bed and looking at the timber ceiling a wide smile appeared on my lips as the ‘setting’ I had been fiddling with finally worked.
I now had a semi translucent minimap in my top left field of view which I could open and close with a thought. “Yes! Now onto resources.” It did not take me long until four bars that symbolized my resources were displayed in the bottom left of my vision. These I made completely clear unless I was focusing on them. There was a red bar for my Health, a green one for my Stamina, a blue one for my Mana and a silvery one for my Will. It had taken me a bit of time to figure out what my Will did, but apparently it was what was used when I tried to use Telekinesis. On another note, Telekinesis is useless. I took almost all my Will to lift the money pouch I had from the bed to the nightstand and back again. Luckily my Will recovered rather quickly, I recovered about 1 point every 3 seconds.
“Fuck I refuse to believe that Telekinesis is useless!” I growled and sat up. I instinctively felt that this skill should be amazing! But I had to fully focus on the object I wanted to move and even with something as light as a pouch with fifteen gold coins my Will plummeted at an unsustainable level. “Telekinesis was the whole reason I picked Esper as my boon!” I looked at the only thing that I imagined could help with this problem and made a face.
The ‘Skill points system’ allowed me to do two things, first it allowed me to obtain skills that I knew of for a cost. As of now the only things I could get were: Persuasion, Sense truth and Space attribute magic. The last of these ‘Space attribute magic’ had only shown up after Imon had mentioned it, and unlike the other two which cost 5 skill points each this one was 20 more than half of what I had.
I lay on my bed and agonized quite a bit before coming to a conclusion. “This is not a game, saving my points for the future just feels like a recipe for disaster.” It was a hard choice. I was the kind of person that hoarded every single item I got my hands on and always ended up not using them instead. But I strongly feel like that would not work in the real world so I invested a single point into Telekinesis.
“Okay, let’s see the difference.” I did the same experiment as before but I noticed no change. “Maybe it was a bit easier?” This made my stomach ache. “Did I waste that point?”
“Fuck.” I swore under my breath and decided to try another skill. I selected Mind and upgraded it. “Strange, that cost 2 skill points…” I immediately felt and saw the difference. It was as if all sound suddenly became just a little bit sharper, the colours of the painted walls a tiny bit brighter and the musty smell of the city became more prominent. Also my Mana increased to 133 and my Will to 111.
“So… Mind basically strengthens my brain?” I felt that something was lacking in that explanation but it’d do for now. “But why did it cost 2 points when Telekinesis cost only 1?” I looked over my skills and noticed that every skill had a different cost to increase it. And as Mind now cost 3, I assumed that the cost increased with the level. “That sounds about right.” As I sat there learning more about my skills I felt a pair of eyes on me.
“What the?!” My eyes almost popped out of my skull as I suddenly saw a grey and scaly head with an orange ring that looked like a collar pop out of the sleeve on my left arm. “Simon?” I asked incredulously and my pet snake looked back at me with what felt like annoyance. That was a look that I recognized well, it was his default look. But what I did not recognize was the undeniable gleam of intelligence in his reptilian eyes. In the next moment Simon’s status popped up.
Name: Simon
Race: Lesser snake familiar
Str: 2, Dex: 12, Agi: 9, Vit: 2, End: 3, Int: 8, Wis:6, Cha: 1
Skills: Passive: Dark vision
That was all, his only skill was Dark vision. He did not even have poison fang or something. “Not that he should I guess, he is a non-venomous species after all…” I was a bit confused how Simon had just appeared like that but I was glad that the changes I was making to my own stats carried over to Simon as well. This was way easier to read after all. As my mind was preoccupied with these thoughts I felt something brush against my mind and a single word appeared in my head ‘Hungry’.
“You’re hungry?” I asked my snake. “Wait?! You can speak?!” I suddenly blurted out. But there was no response, only the sense of hunger was transmitted from my pet.
“All right I’ll get you something…” I stopped talking then when I suddenly realized that there were probably no ‘Pet shops’ nearby that could sell me dead mice to feed Simon. But to my surprise an image of the stew I had just eaten appeared in my mind. “You can eat normal food?” I asked but got no response so I just sighed and walked down to the common room again.
This time Imon was not there, but a younger version of him that I would be willing to bet anything was his son stood and poured some beer. As he finished I waved him over and was not at all surprised when his voice was almost identical to Imon’s, both in how it sounded and in how loud it was.
“What can I do for ya?” The younger version of Imon asked with a wide grin.
“Could I buy some meat?” I sensed that what I was about to ask for was a bit odd. “Preferably uncooked.” The young Imon frowned a bit but then shook his head.
“Sorry, we don’t store any meat here outside of what we used for cooking. But there is a butcher two streets down to the south.” I thanked him and walked out.