He turned the pack over in his hand. A small eggshell colored rectangular box made from a rigid form of paper. It had a glossy surface that didn’t feel the same as the originals. It was stamped with a label heavy with stylized cross hatching. The brand image was a frog in a pose that suggested it was swimming. There was no brand name, but at the bottom it read ‘20 Nails.’ Arthur opened it, and pulled out what looked like a cigarette. It had a white filter tip with a tiny frog stamp on it.

He smelled it and noticed how it wasn’t the same, it smelled sweeter than a normal cigarette. He pinched at the filter end and pulled at it. It was like cotton, but much finer. He tapped it back in and put it in his mouth. He pulled out a small iron tube from the box that Pemud had given him; he had said that it was most of Atreus’s things. Arthur didn’t blame the man for shutting himself back in his shack to process all the information that Vulwin had so coldly dropped on him after he wasn’t at risk of bleeding to death.

“Vulwin, how long have cigarettes been around?” Vulwin was busy writing in a notebook big and thick enough to be an encyclopedia. “Only about a year. Though I've never heard anyone call them that.” Arthur nodded. He pulled out the wick from the tube and struck it a few times until the flint sparked a flame into existence. He lit the cigarette and inhaled, It was just a touch harsher than it should be. The taste was fantastic though. “Wait, is this..?” He looked at it and willed his analysis ability to function.

Hipish Wrap

A stimulating smoking herb wrapped

in a paper processed specifically for that

purpose. Overuse can result in addiction

and health afflictions.

Durability: 2.7 / 3.0

It definitely wasn’t tobacco, but it helped so he couldn’t bring himself to care. What worried Arthur was how similar it felt to cigarettes he had before, not how it tasted but the packaging and the sticks themselves felt. It seemed like there was money behind it’s production. “Vulwin?” This time the elf peeked up from his writing with an annoyed expression. “Weird question. Is there any kind of explosive powder in this world?” Vulwin switched from passive-aggressive to smug know-it-all. “You mean beside wood powder?” Arthur gave him his own annoyed look from the dead boar he sat on top of. Both of their trains of thought were interrupted when Euld came up to them dragging the other boar Arthur had killed, by the handle of his sword. “I’m gonna need you to help me tear my sword out of it. No one else around has strength high enough to play tug-o-war with me.”

Arthur hopped off the big pig. “I guess I did get it stuck.” He held the cigarette between his lips and gripped onto a tusk with both hands. He wished he could have been instantly healed all the times he had broken his fingers in the past, but wouldn’t complain about having full functionality. Euld counted and they both heaved. They lifted the body of the huge animal with their sheer might. The sword freed itself with a wet noise that Arthur hoped to soon forget. He had to catch himself from falling backward or dropping his smoke. Euld played the part of a brick wall and barely took a half-step back. He wiped off the blade on the boar and shoved it back in its sheath. Arthur squinted, seeing that the scabbard was about a third the length of the blade he had put in it.

Scabbard of Holding

A scabbard enchanted with

spatial magic, greatly

increases ease of carrying.

Durability 748/750

“That’s cool as fuck!” Arthur pointed at the weapon. Euld beamed with pride, patting the handle. “You think so? Just wait until I get the ‘Return’ enchantment on the sword. It would have teleported it right out of the pig and back in its rightful place!” Arthur raised an eyebrow. “And how much does that cost?” Euld stopped smiling. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Arthur almost jumped as he heard more shouting. the woman who had announced the boar attack was yelling at him. Arthur could now tell that her accent differed a lot from the Scottish he had guessed before.

“Atreus! How many’d you get!” Around her a group of hunters were busy skinning her kills. Many of the bowmen he’d seen were actually women. Arthur just shook his head and held up two fingers, she just scoffed and turned away. “Who’s she?” Arthur turned to Euld “Head huntress for the village. Her band pulls in the most food and skins everything that’s worth money.” Arthur glanced over at the pig bodies. “How much are these worth?” Arthur liked money, and he loved the idea of hard metal currency. There were two copper coins and one silver in the box Mangol had given him. The copper had the stamp of some regal man facing the left, one with sharp features and a pointy little beard. The silver coin had a stamp of a shrew on it. Arthur couldn’t imagine why they chose a shrew, but he had to admit it looked pretty cute.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Maybe a shrew each for the whole animal.” He shrugged. “You’d have to speak to Mop about that.” Arthur sighed. “I don’t like meeting new people. I’m awful with names, and I don’t even belong here!” raising his hands in exasperation, the smoke from his cigarette wafting with each gesture. “How often does this village get attacked by random animals? How often do people die here?” Euld looked down at him blankly, the way he gazed scared Arthur. “Sometimes every day, sometimes by things worse than some pebble-brained animals.” Arthur decided not to respond right away. He started to regret ranting at all; Euld had been through countless life and death situations and it showed not just on his armor. “Did anyone die today?” Euld nodded gravely. “One did, a young man.” Arthur tensed up even more. “Damn.” He looked at the ground.

“It’s a sad fact of life in Dochel, death is everywhere.” Euld turned away and walked off with heavy steps. Vulwin gave him a concerned expression and walked over to Arthur. “We’ll talk more later, just don’t cause any issues in the meantime.” He turned around and floated off to follow Euld. Arthur looked back at the animals he had killed. He grasped a tusk of the boar that he didn’t use as a table for his stuff and to lean his club up against, and heaved with all his upper body strength until the solid bone snapped off it’s former owner’s head. He looked down at the sharp tusk and smiled a little. He thought that maybe he could get used to being this strong.

He felt something pull up the back of his shirt, and suddenly his whole world changed. He felt that his whole weight was being supported by the light, loosely fitted shirt. He looked down, and almost vomited immediately. He was very high up, he could see the city as a wide circle surrounded by little bundles of buildings in each cardinal direction. Instead of a wall of tall trees the eastern village seemed to give way to rolling forested hills that bled into a horizon of mountains. Arthur screamed into the wind.

“So your name is Arthur, right?” He heard someone ask him from above. He also heard the fabric of his shirt start to tear, and he shot his hands up to grasp at whatever was holding him up. First he awkwardly grabbed at a big flat piece of metal that had somehow caught his shirt. He found a wooden shaft above it and grasped it with a white knuckle grip. Arthur tried to tilt his head back but scraped his scalp against the metal.

He growled a curse out and he felt some warm blood hit his neck. “Who are you!” He mostly had to focus on keeping a grip at a horrible angle. “I just need to ask you a few questions, out of curiosity.” The voice sounded young, and utterly calm. He sounded like a clerk helping you with the needlessly long process of becoming a ‘club member’. “Usually possession is something a demon does, are you a demon?” Arthur fought the urge to flail his legs. “I’m not a fucking demon!” He twisted his head, looking up past what he learned was the head of a shovel to see a man in deep black leather armor, covered by an even darker cloak. He didn’t float like vulwin did, he was perfectly still as he stayed suspended in the air. All the wind did was bat around his reaper-ish set of armor. Arthur focused on him.

??? ???

Level: ??? / Human

Necromancer (Unknown)

HP: ???/???

Afflictions: (unknown)

The man smiled, his teeth were very shiny and gleamed off the sunlight. “Very interesting! Why can't I see your species buddy?” Arthur felt like his arms were on fire, he probably would have already fallen if he were in his normal body. Arthur yelled in exasperation and threw up on his shirt. The man above him made a sound of disgust when he watched the wind splatter reddish stomach acid all over Arthur’s front side. “I don’t think a demon would vomit on themselves.”

Arthur felt the grass touch his feet and let go of the shovel, dropping to all fours and heaving. The instant teleportation made Arthur’s vision spin as his brain tried to discern what direction he was actually facing. He got up to his feet with some effort and looked up into the pale face of the necromancer. He held his shovel to one side, the pointed head was formed of deep black metal. Arthur noticed that it was the same metal that formed Euld’s armor. Runes were inlaid into the metal with shining gold.

Shovel of Repulsion

Epic Long Spear

Masterwork Weapon

Greatly increases the effect of counter

and reflect abilities. The shaft and pointed

blade classifies this weapon as a long spear

and will affect related skills.

Durability: 1009/2000

Skill requirement: (Unknown) / Dexterity requirement: 42

Enemies killed: 12,234

Arthur felt incredibly jealous of his shovel to his own surprise. He realized he should be discerning whether or not he was about to be executed in a field, which couldn’t be much better than the edge of a forest. He wiped his mouth and spat on the ground. “The way you talk doesn’t really fit how scary you are, you know that?” The necromancer laughed. “I have been told that once or twice.” Arthur saw that many of his teeth were golden, mostly on the right side of his mouth. The shovel wielder took out a small, four-sided gem from one of his belt pouches and pointedly aimed it at Arthur. It made him flinch, but no magical laser erupted out of the gem.

“Very interesting... No offenses, no debt record. You are a blank slate. It's not that I can't see your species. It's just that neither of us genuinely knows what it is” Arthur tried to find something to say but failed miserably; though the scary man's deductions did get the gears in Arthur's head spinning “Open for a professional opinion, Sir Tyson?” He nodded very slightly. The necromancer pointed to the city. “Go through the churches. I think that will give you a good start.” Arthur thought to ask him what his name was. The man vanished into thin air before Arthur could open his mouth. He glanced around the grassy field that he had been left on. Realizing that he was at least half a mile away from the village, and all of his possessions. He wore a scowl the entire time he jogged back.