When they came to the stream, they angled upriver and came to the lake’s edge where they both quickly stripped and began cleaning. Joe was surprised how quickly Garnedell seemed to copy him, the cleansing process seeming to take on almost ritual importance as he seemed to wash himself in almost the same way every day. Joe had at first considered it strange, but then shrugged it off as he realized that Garnedell was simply copying him and Joe really did have a set way about cleaning himself. Things were continuing the same as they always did until half way through their cleaning, Joe realized they had a guest who also seemed to be aping their cleaning. Joe was washing his hair at the time and, the figure next to them was hidden beneath water and soap suds. But when he had finished rinsing out his hair, he found Garnedell helping a man through the washing process. Joe smiled a bit at the event, but said nothing, and allowed the exercise. Joe finished quickly, but Garnedell took his time, showing him exactly what to do with a step by step explanation and shared his soap with him. When it was done, the man turned towards Joe with Garnedell and Joe realized it was the man who was eaten by the slime.

“Hey! It’s slime boy! How you doing?” Joe came forward excitedly, reaching out a hand to shake it, but the man simply looked at him with some confusion and did nothing. Joe awkwardly retrieved his hand and simply smiled.

“Well, it’s great that you’re OK. You don’t seem the worse for wear. Everything alright?”

The man simply smiled at him, doing very little but then muttered some words in response. Garnedell and ‘slime-man’ spoke together for a few moments and then the man smiled at him before turning to leave. Joe offered his farewell then turned to Garnedell. The boy simply smiled at him, saying nothing, so Joe figured that maybe the man must have come by to say thanks. Joe smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder, still uncertain how to interact with a person with such a limited vocabulary and returned to the inn for the night. Hmm… maybe it would be a good idea to extend the language lessons a bit more. I’ve got a bit more time now, I think…

The evening ended quickly with Joe writing down what he had learned about the forester job in the last sunlight that flooded his room. He filled in the data quickly and returned his notebook to its proper place before laying on his bed. His excitement from the day still buzzed his head for another ten or so minutes and Joe played with his status windows before finally falling asleep with some contentment. Things aren’t so bad.

* * *

Joe woke the next day, early once more, just as the sun pinked the horizon and light started to flood his room. The light was still too dark to see easily, but the extremely long sleep times had him rising quite a bit earlier than he was used to. Today will be the day I get my villager up. Yay! Joe thought with some sarcasm, but still with a hint of some excitement. Let’s see what I can do for my basic stats with this job. He prepared for the day, donning his clothing and equipment before waking the boy to do the same. He went ahead to the dining hall and called for a meal. Garnedell joined him before the bowls were even set before them. The meal this morning was of much better quality, even exceeding the supper of last night, and Joe felt satisfied with the pay he had offered the innkeeper.

While Joe enjoyed the meal, he ate quickly, wishing to achieve level five quickly and be able to return to the village early enough to bother the priest for another job change. They were out the door only shortly after sunrise and well into the forest. After only a few short hours, half way to lunch time, Joe was able to hit level one and record the statistics that the villager was able to give him. As expected, he found himself to be pretty disappointed, but a ten percent increase to everything was… significant. He could only hope that there were an extraordinary number of jobs. Joe smiled, lips smirking. I’m going to completely break the system!

Nothing special, but the strength was a pleasant surprise, although he shrugged as he realized that it made sense. The mean life of a villager is one of constant physical labor. Makes sense that villagers would have strength. Joe only stopped for a moment to consider his new stats before quickly returning to his hunt. The fight continued for the rest of the day, only stopping for lunch. Joe making sure to keep it short.

Despite their attempts, Joe still found himself only finishing up in early evening and had to return quickly. They were able to finish while the sun was still up and Joe jogged back to the village, although he had to stop regularly to give the boy some rest. He made it back with the sun still up and told the boy to stay in the village before he picked up his speed and continued on through the village to the priest’s shrine. He did have to run around a small crowd of people standing around in the middle of the road, and realized they were staring at his writing. Have they never seen writing before? But then, what about their status screens? Joe grumbled under his breath a bit before dismissing them from his mind. Joe pounded on the door as before, but this time the Priest came from the cabin door much more irritated, shouting loudly at him and waving his arms fiercely. Joe blinked at him, but said nothing and simply waved at his status which he had brought up. The priest shouted louder, anger overwhelming irritation before he turned away and went back to his cabin. Joe waited for several moments, expecting his popup asking him to choose a job, but nothing happened.

Joe’s eyes narrowed as he soon came to the realization that the priest had abandoned him. Joe quickly raised his arm and began banging on the door again. The priest began shouting through the door, but Joe did not stop, soon banging even harder on the door. He didn’t relent at all and soon had to arms slamming on the door. It felt almost like ten minutes, but likely was only around one before the priest finally opened the door, shouting even more angrily, but this time was working his status menu so Joe simply stood back and allowed the priest his anger.

Seconds later, the door was slammed shut again, but Joe was unconcerned as he quickly slipped through his available job choices and simply chose the next one in line: farmer. Joe eagerly went to his status display once again and checked what he was currently gaining, and nodded with some satisfaction when he noticed that he had gained a bit more once again. Man… it really does look like its ten percent of all jobs that I have leveled by any amount!

Status

Current Job

Available Jobs

Current Skills

Available Skills

Log

Joe McConnell

Magical Resistances

Status

Physical Resistances

Wind

1.13

HP

3.50

Physical:

Water

1.25

MP

3.50

Piercing

0.50

Ice

1.25

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Attack

3.50

Crushing

0.00

Defense

3.50

Slashing

1.13

Magic

3.50

Magic Defense

3.50

Strength

4.00

Dexterity

4.50

Agility

4.50

IQ

3.75

Wisdom

3.50

Learning

3.50

Luck

0.13

Joe made it back to the village as the suns lower edge kissed the horizon and he quickly retrieved his bathing supplies, heading towards the stream. As he was traveling through the village, the boy saw him and shouted out to him, running towards the inn as well. Joe waved to him in passing and realized the kid wanted to join him.

“Hey! No problem! I’ll wait for you at the stream.”

Garnedell yelled back as he ran and Joe simply smiled at the boy’s exuberance. He sat at the streams edge for several moments and saw the boy coming towards him at a run. Joe waved to him before standing and the two began their evening wash. Joe dropped his clothing and towels on the nearest bush while Garnedell seemed to lay out his towels with much more deliberation. Even as they settled into the stream, Joe looked up in surprise when he saw ‘slime guy’ show up to join them in washing.

“Hey, man. Great to have you,” Joe waved with a friendly smile.

The man stopped and seemed to give a bow back before smiling and joining them. Joe noticed he had his hand closed in a fist, but then realized he had bought his own soap. Hey. One more convert to cleanliness… at least maybe the village will start smelling better. Garnedell once again showed him the ropes and the evening went by similar to the last. After their wash, Joe spent a bit longer in the dining hall of the inn going over language with Garnedell and actually focused a bit more on trying to learn what he needed. The day ended with him writing down the villager stats he had learned that day then spent some time fiddling in his status menus before he began to feel sleepy enough. Huh… I wonder if…