“Where the bloody heck have you been?”

The moment Peter stepped out of the graveyard gates half an apple bounced off his head. “Ow! What the heck was that for?” he demanded, looking around for the thrower.

Sure enough, Dani was sitting on the edge of the stairs to the temple chewing on the other half with a smirk on her face. “I knew it. As soon as I left you in the mine, I knew you were going to end up here. What was it? Rockfall? Goblin? Rat?”

Loosening his collar that suddenly felt too tight for no reason that he would admit to himself, Peter exclaimed “Rat!” and quickly opened his inventory. DB scurried up his arm and nipped him on the earlobe, then proceeded to grind his teeth in Peter’s ear. Peter scooped up the apple half that had nearly brained him moments before and offered it to the starving rodent.

Dani took another bite of her piece and watched DB go to town on his. “So it was another rat that got you? Isn’t that the first time you’ve died to the same thing twice?”

“What? No,” Peter shook his head. “It wasn’t a rat. Actually, I have no idea what it was, just some thing that dropped off the roof and… you know what? It doesn’t matter.” He reached up and gave DB a scratch on the back of the head. “Say ‘thank you’, buddy. Manners matter.”

“Squeaf.” Pieces of apple pattered on the cobbles.

Peter smiled and leaned his head back so he could see his pet better. “I’m pretty sure that’s as close as you’re going to get, Dani. Thank you for the apple,” he said out the side of his mouth. “Sorry you were stuck in there so long buddy. How about we get you some more food before we do any more adventuring? How about raspberries? Sound good?”

DB paused eating long enough to grind his teeth and boggle.

Grinning at his companion’s reaction, Peter turned back to Dani. “Looks like we’re going harvesting before anything else. What are you up to today?”

Dani tossed the core over the wall into the graveyard, eliciting a surprised yelp from someone. “Nah, I have to catch up with some other stuff. I just figured I should make sure you were ok before I head out. You’re not going to do anything stupid or dangerous now, are you?”

Peter just gave her a flat stare.

“Yeah, ok. Forget I asked that one. How about, you’re not going to try tackling any major jobs or picking fights with something that clearly takes a team of experienced Travellers?”

Peter shook his head. “Life has been a rollercoaster ride recently, I’m just going to take a day and relax. No quests, just DB and I having some quality time. You’re free to join us when you’re not busy.”

Dani summoned her mount and swung up onto its back. “I’ll see if I’m free later. Try not to die too many times.”

Peter stared at her receding form as DB continued munching in his ear. “Just you and me for now, buddy. Haven’t heard back from Pham yet, so what say we go see about getting you some munchies?”

Wandering out of the village, occasionally waving at villagers whose faces were beginning to become familiar, Peter thought about the book he had read last night and compared the level of technology around him to the descriptions Verne had used. Two hundred years or so since it had been written and it was still the go-to inspiration for steampunk. From the gas lamps of cast bronze that lined the streets to the clothing of the village guards as he passed out the gates, this world could almost have been lifted from the pages of Twenty Thousand Leagues. Almost, he considered, because there’s clearly an element of magic here too. I would still kinda like to learn magic, but that might be a bit out of my reach for a while.

The fields were almost deserted this time, no Travellers committing mass insecticide or denuding the bushes of their bounty. “Down you hop DB. See if you can find us some raspberries for you.”

While Peter was sure he could identify the bush he was looking for by himself, it gave him time to examine the skill increments he had earned in the last few days, and gave DB some time to run around in the sunshine in relative safety. There were still some mobs about that would be instantly hostile, a couple of foxes off in the distance for example, but Peter was certain that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

I have GOT to find the notifications settings on this thing, he thought as he flipped through the character sheet on his arm. He’s learned to ignore the minor itching that indicated a change, but still, it would be nice to maybe have a melodious ding, or a message text in his vision instead. I wonder if there’s a way to transcribe the sheet into a book I can carry instead? Surely that would be more useful?

While the sun shone warmly and the cool breeze wafted the scent of flowers, Peter crossed his legs under him and opened his inventory. He pulled out the sickle for when DB came back to let him know where the berries were and laid it to one side. He then pulled out his sheaf of papers and a quill. Now there would be some useful magic, self-writing quills.

Returning his existing notes to the inventory space with a sigh, they were really starting to stack up, Peter took one of the few remaining sheets of parchment and began copying his character sheet to the page. Name, attributes and race were easy. The list of skills was a bit harder, since they were in order of magnitude not alphabetical as he wanted them to be. This is going to suck if I learn a new skill. I’m going to have multiple copies for when I have to insert a new entry on the list.

Lastly he noted the quests he had open and their flavour text. He decided to leave out the geas though, in case he wanted to show the notes to Dani or Pham. He had just finished the last full stop when something squelched on the page, sending a red smear everywhere.

“Dang it DB, what the heck?” His first thought, that it was blood and then freaking out that it might be his blood, or if not, then who it belonged to was quickly dispelled when the white rat jumped up after the mangled berry and began chowing down. DB managed to track red pawprints all over the sheet, completely obliterating Peter’s work. Despite the surprise, Peter wasn’t particularly mad. He’d mostly been practicing his handwriting anyway and had acquired a couple of skill increments in the process. I know MMOs are supposed to be about slow building up of a character into the epic badass, but this is taking forever. It’s almost too realistic in the way skills are earned.

Rolling up the parchment that DB had ruined just in case, despite knowing intellectually there was no chance of it leaking between slots, Peter stashed the page in his inventory. “Okay buddy, where’d you find the food?”

DB squeaked and boggled excitedly and dashed off to a smallish bush that had had every low hanging fruit gone or bitten into. Even the green ones. On closer inspection, even the lower branches had been gnawed on.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Dude, you must have been STARVING! I’m so sorry, it’s been mad recently and I completely forgot you were in there.” Peter picked the biggest, juiciest berry from the bush and held it out to his little companion. “Do you forgive me?”

Peter flinched as DB rushed forward and made as though he would bite Peter’s finger, but only grazed the skin with his teeth before plucking the berry from Peter’s grip and attempting to stuff the entire thing into his mouth at once.

Sitting down next to DB as the little guy did his best to engulf the peace offering, Peter heaved a sigh of relief. “Ok buddy. How’s this for a deal: no more sticking you in the inventory. You can nap in the hood or sit on my shoulder when I’m dealing with stuff or you can run around on the ground when you want to. What do you say?”

The response drew a chuckle from Peter. DB wedged the entire rest of the fruit into his cheeks, making them bulge comically, and sending a deluge of red juice down his chin. Anyone not knowing better would think DB was a vampire rat. He then reached out with both juice stained paws like a child reaching out for a hug. Peter extended a hand for DB to run up as usual, but the rat gripped his index finger in both paws and shook it. “I guess that seals the deal then?” Peter quirked an eyebrow at this weird interaction. “I’m starting to think you’re smarter than I look.”

“Squeak!” DB agreed, then ground his teeth. Scrambling up into the bush, he nipped off a berry and ran back down to where Peter was sitting with the stem gripped in his teeth. “Squeak?”

Peter accepted the offering and popped it into his mouth, mirroring what DB had done. “I definitely think you’re smarter than the average bear,” he quoted with a smile. “Let’s get you some grub and head back to the house. I’m sure I saw a kitchen there and I know a recipe for jam you’re going to love.”

Humming contentedly, Peter stripped the bush with DBs help and dropped the results into his inventory. While the interdimensional space was open he saw the rolled up parchment, which reminded him to check on the mild itching on his arm that he had become so used to ignoring. “Oh wow. I guess that was a good move,” Peter realised as he looked at the notification and at DB who was scurrying contentedly around the bush, piling up and occasionally eating the fruits of their labour. “You levelled up as a hunter and as a friend.”

DB gave him a look that said “well, duh,” and went back to what he was doing.

Rolling his sleeve back down and retying the bracer, Peter poked out his tongue. “You’re pretty smart, but don’t go being a smart-ass.” A memory tickled the back of his head. Huh, maybe this is how mum feels when I do it? “Ok buddy, time to go.” Peter scooped up the rat who struggled briefly until he realised he was going on the shoulder and not in the hole. The berries, on the other hand didn’t struggle at all but definitely went in the into the inventory.

The walk back to town took no time at all now that Peter had some companionship. As he walked along he chatted to DB about what he had discovered on his character sheet and the recent skill advancements they had both made. DB kept up his end of the conversation with squeaks, sniffles and tooth grinding, amazing Peter with the range of expression he was able to express with such simple responses. “Do you think it’s because I’m getting better at understanding you, or you’re getting better at communicating?”

DB snuffled in Peter’s ear and ground his teeth.

“You’re right, it’s probably both. I wonder if it’s part of our companionship bond, or there’s a ‘rat communication’ skill that I just missed on the sheet.” Peter walked past the guards who gave him a quizzical look but just waved him through.

“Squeak?” DB tapped a foot on Peter’s temple, then his own head.

“True. Rat communication would be a weird skill. It’s not like I’m sniffing or squeaking myself, is it?” Peter strode up the stairs of the temple with a spring in his step. “Do you think something has to have a structured language for there to be a communication skill? Like dwarven or elvish?”

The priestess turned to watch the pair pass, radiating concern but Peter was too distracted to notice. “Travellers, always up to something weird,” she muttered to herself and went back to her prayer.

“I wonder,” Peter mused as he pulled out the key, “if I learned dwarven, would I hear English, or would I literally have to learn dwarven?”

He turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stepped through. Then he stepped out, closed the door and relocked it, re-unlocked it and went in again. The same scene greeted his eyes, a tiny cottage interior reminiscent of Granny’s. “DB, you seeing this?”

“Squeak.”

“You sure?”

“Squeak!”

“Ok, ok. So we’re in the right place but it looks completely different?”

Peter wandered in and sat down. As he did so, some of the furniture began to stand out as familiar. Where he would have expected the sitting room to be, the writing desk still sat. The couch he currently occupied was the same style, but a two-seater instead of three. In the back of the room was a kitchenette, and a door that would, he hoped, lead out into the back courtyard. “What the heck happened to this place? Did it shrink or something?”

DB jumped off his shoulder and scurried over to the writing desk. Scrambling up onto the desktop, he began batting at something floating there. Peter stood up and wandered over to investigate.

It was an hourglass. Peter’s grandfather had shown him a real one once as a child, an ‘egg timer’, granDad had called it. This one was slightly different though. It was made of brass and crystal with all the sand sitting in the bottom half. Plus, it was floating. Spinning now, since DB kept pawing at it. Peter tried using Appraise on it to see what information he could garner but instead of a popup window he received a splitting headache and a jumble of memories that weren’t his own.

“What the heck was that?” he demanded, thumping his forehead with the heel of his palm. It felt like a brain freeze from a slurpee filled with someone else’s experiences. “Or, someTHING else’s experiences?” he mumbled out loud. Peter prodded one of the memories with a mental finger, causing it to burst with a flash and fill his mind with images of nests, the feeling of soaring on a thermal and the taste of bugs. “Blergh,” he spat, trying to get rid of the taste on his tongue. “Ok, lesson learned. These are NOT normal timers. What the heck are they then?”

DB was still batting at the thing, making it spin and flash as the clear crystal caught the light and refracted it weirdly. Obviously simply touching it wasn’t enough to cause the memory transfer, so Peter reached out and plucked the timer out of the air.

Ok, so now what do I do with it? Peter looked around the room. It must be important, it’s the only new thing here. Everything else has been… downsized? I guess?

He stood up and paced the room holding the timer, occasionally placing it against things or in openings that could match the size and shape. On the mantelpiece over the fire, in the drain of the sink, even pressing it against the front door in case it did something.

Nothing.

Peter looked over at the desk where DB was sitting, looking dejected and bored since Peter had taken away his toy. Under the edge of his butt, Peter could see the rim of a circular depression. “DB, you’ve been sitting on it the whole time? Shift.”

The rat just sat back into the depression and began grooming his stomach.

“Fine,” huffed Peter, “shift please?”

Picking something from under his nails first, DB moved his rump three inches to the side with an expression that clearly said “fine, but only because I’m a nice person”.

Peter quickly sat down at the desk again and placed the timer in the depression. The base snapped into position as though magnetised and the glass began to glow. The green blotter on the desk turned black and a message scrolled into view.

Soul ready. Accept?

Current storage: 2

Upkeep: 1/Day (Basic house)

Upgrade Menu

Enhancements Menu

Edit placement

“Soul? Is that what that is?” Peter stared at the interface. He looked at the timer again. The ‘sand’ in the bottom was swirling as though in a high wind but none of it tried to pass the pinch point. “Are these… memories… DB? What do you think?”

DB ground his teeth and batted at the blotter with a red-stained paw.

“Yeah, ok.” Peter hit the ‘accept’ on the interface and the timer was sucked into the desk with a hiss. Peter ducked under the desk to see where it had gone, but it was only wood underneath. Placing one hand on top and one on the bottom, he estimated the desk to be an inch thick. “I guess it’s magic,” he said looking at DB. The rat was practicing his ‘well, duh’ face again. “Fine, you don’t have to be like that.”