There seems to be some parts of my notes missing here. Somewhere between ‘thieves are terrible’ and ‘bandits are terrible’ there’s a gap. Not by itself a cause of concern, but as my memory is fragmented by so much now, sometimes the minutiae of the day to day got lost. Usually a gap meant either something happened that drew me away from the routine of note taking - for better or for worse.
I breathed in the fresh open air of the outside world and sighed in contentedness. Quest complete and we had escaped the odd burrow almost unscathed. I turned to the elf as she stepped out from the darkness just after me, her eyes focused on System windows.
“I went with one of my passive abilities, to increase my attack speed.” Ren blinked and frowned as she became awash by the daylight. Her blonde hair was practically glowing with radiance as the light struck it, and it took me an extra second to parse what she had said.
“That’s… valid.” I nodded and rubbed at my chin. “It might not be as flashy as your active abilities, but aids your overall effectiveness.”
She rolled her eyes as she pushed past me. “Thanks for the approval.” She exhaled and waved her hand. “Sorry, that's the tiredness talking. What did you decide to pick?”
“I’m struggling between two passives.” I stretched out. Although there was plenty of headroom in the thief cave, being in the outdoors again was remarkably freeing. An amusing thing for a man who spent too much time in his home studio or up on stage rather than enjoying nature. “Mana Manipulation or Sleight of Hand. To be better with the cards, or with the-“
“The bullshit?” she tilted her head. “I couldn’t tell you which is best. Just decide before the next stage of our dance with death.”
I gave her a brief bow, and we set off northward towards the bandit encampment. We had altered the original plan and had put the Boss Hunt after the bandits. Less travel for ever tiring legs. After the dim hideout, the warmth and color of the surrounding woodlands was calming, and just made me feel even more like I needed a good sleep. The aching muscles and bruises didn’t help either.
Ren could see it in me, and even her immutable brilliance beneath her normal scowl had lost some of its lustre. “Maybe we shouldn’t burn out on the first day.” She grimaced and looked up into the treetops. “Some form of hammock might be reasonably safe.”
I shrugged and gave her a tired smile. “It sounds preferable to death from exhaustion.”
“We’ll go a bit further from the caves and find somewhere suitable.”
We went on for a while longer, although the scenery didn't change much. I occasionally stumbled on thick chunks of grass or tree roots attempting to trip me. The Token still hung unused as I deliberated on which was better to pick. Mana Manipulation would give me better control over my cards, but Sleight of Hand should increase the speed at which I could access and swap things from my Inventory. I could already do that pretty quickly though… so I chose
[
Another slice of vagueness from the System. There wasn't even a numerical figure for how much mana I had, nor a bar that would decrease or regenerate. It was just innate—something I could feel. That it was a specific ability that my Class had been given could mean that most other spellcasters weren't so flexible in their magic usage. This was all new ground for me, and some things were harder to learn than others.
“You know, you don’t always have to be fine?”
I raised my eyebrows and looked over at the elf as she took me from my thoughts. "Hmm?"
She stopped to lean against a tree and rubbed at her eye sockets. “You’re always fine or smiling, or needing to push forward. You can be more open with how you really feel.”
“This coming from someone who is permanently scowling?” I crossed my arms, subconsciously trying to hold the snappy retorts back. Well, not so subconscious, I supposed.
“I have a lot to be angry and sad about, trickster.” Her impassive eyes looked up at me. “Don’t you?”
My jaw was clenched, but I wasn’t sure why. Things were fine. I took a second to breathe deeply in and out, twice. “The show must go on.” I eventually said with a grin, even if my heart wasn’t fully behind it.
“Why? What happens if it doesn’t?”
I opened my mouth, but my mind was blank. Some knot had formed in my stomach and I stared at the elf to try to see what she was trying to get at. Other than clearly being tired, she was both remarkably hard to read and stubbornly not accepting my silence as an answer.
“I’m…” I licked my lips, “unsure as to what response you are trying to elicit. Am I not trying hard enough?”
She tilted her head, but her expression didn’t change. “I just want you to actually be fine, not just say it. If you are, then that’s okay. Forgive me for twisting the screws.”
I felt remarkably warm. A purple suit was not the best clothing to be wearing on a warm hike through the woods, it turned out. I removed my top hat and wiped my brow on the back of my arm. “Wow, and I thought the thieves were tough.”
“If you can deflect crossbow bolts as well as you do my questions, then you’ll be twice as useful.” She stood and nodded through the forest. “A little bit more and we’ll stop for food.”
I smiled, but it faded from my face as soon as her back was turned. Not that I was even annoyed at Ren exactly, or blamed her for the weird cramping inside me. I was just tired and hungry, and wasn’t prepared for thinking about it any more than that. So much killing, not enough downtime, perhaps? I pushed any further thoughts from my mind.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Instead, I drew a card. Held it in my hand, and let it hover above it, as I tried to feel for any difference. Nothing major. I threw it out a dozen feet and split it in two.
There it was. I brought one back alone, the other hanging in the air as I walked. I put energy back into the first as I sent it back and withdrew the second, repeating the process. Better control over the split cards. I could now juggle them. With my fingers relaxing, I let them dissipate. No blood on my hands.
Well, none of my own.
I looked out into the woods and deflated somewhat. For some reason, I didn’t feel much like practising, even though I was fine. It was at least a small blessing that the route we had traveled had not been dense with wild Monsters - or crawling with Players wanting to literally pick our brains. They'd have to try extra hard to get something worthwhile inside my cranium at present.
"Here should be fine." Ren stopped and put her hands above her eyes as she looked up. “Canopy is dense enough. We should be near invisible if we go high up.”
My eyes followed her gaze and whatever joy I had left in me sunk out to be lost in the thick grass. I was suspicious of heights after the thing with the orc, and preferred not to tempt fate. That said, I'd court death for a decent nap. “I have… some sheets and rope?”
“Perfect. Finally, a good use for your kleptomania.” She stepped forward and held her hands out.
“I’m not a…” My brain replayed the scenes of me looting every odd and end from the thief's hideout. “It’s no different from…” I sighed and gave up the point. Two sheets and a couple of bundles appeared into my arms and I handed them over.
“I’m sure you are excellent at tying knots.” She continued to impassively stare at me. “But I’d feel better for both our safety if I made the hammocks.”
“As you wish, your highness.” I gave a bow, but couldn’t manage a signature smile.
She turned and flipped me off as she walked away. Not an especially elven hand-signal, but then maybe some things were universal. The exhaustion was eroding at my sensibilities. Usually a tough tour run would burn me out, but I could at least be solitary and lay in bed all day. Watching videos on new tricks, of course, but it was still resting.
I kept an eye on our surroundings as Ren did her work. Even sat on the soft grass for a little and enjoyed nature for what it was. There was a small clearing just beyond our trees after a short slope. Any wandering adventurers should be too focused on their footwork to be gazing up at the canopy where we would be dozing. Even the thought of it was lifting my mood. Sleep.
Ren descended, dropping to the grass near silently. “That’s yours done, trickster. I’ll put mine up a little further away, but still within arrow distance."
Presumably she meant for assisting if trouble found us, rather than potentially assassinating me if I snored too loudly. She walked behind me as I stood to my feet, her shadow passing over me as the sun lit her hair.
“Hey, Ren. I’m sorry for being an asshole sometimes.”
She nodded and gave me a pat on the shoulder as she continued to her chosen tree. “It’s fine. You can’t help it.”
Regardless of whatever expression she had as she walked away from me, it did give me a little smile. That was until I turned to my tree and grimaced at the prospect of having to climb.
And it was agony. One branch at a time and trying not to think of the distance. I wondered if she put it higher than needed just to spite me, but that was unfair to her. Maybe. Eventually, I reached the proposed sleeping arrangement. It looked like a death trap, with two ends attached to thick branches with a further tether to the trunk. With trepidation, I sat into it; the linens absorbing my body as my internal organs panicked.
I didn’t immediately die, which is all I had wished for - and after a few minutes of being fully tense, I relaxed into it. If I closed my eyes, it was easy to imagine I was a lot closer to the ground.
But I didn't want to sink into the darkness just yet. Hunger still gripped my insides. I opened my eyes again to check through my Inventory. It slightly amused me how certain items stored inside the intangible space. The torch had remained lit. An inkwell didn’t tip or spill. I withdrew it, alongside a journal I had nabbed from one of the rooms, as well as a fountain pen. While I had intended to use it to stab someone in the eye eventually, it might make do to start keeping a diary of some kind. As I opened the book onto my lap, I withdrew some food into my left hand to chew on.
The first couple pages of the tome I would need to remove, as they had already been used briefly by one of the thieves. Nothing interesting. The next page, blank, stared back at me as I thought. After tapping my chin for a minute, I eventually wrote down ‘thieves are terrible’. I’d fill in the earlier stuff when my brain wasn’t so exhausted - oh, but that reminded me the leader had a note on him.
I tried to adjust my position and panicked briefly as I forgot where I was, rocking the hammock. The motion was... slightly relaxing once my muscles gave up the ghost. The piece of paper snapped into my hand from my Inventory and I read it. Something about an important shipment of something, stopped just off the road a little way off. It looked as though there was going to be a further piece of information, but it hadn’t been finished. Probably a warning. I stowed it away and marked the location on my map. Food downed, it was time for the final curtain call.
Exhaling slowly, I closed my eyes. Putting the trials endured so far today behind me, it didn't take sleep long to blanket my tired mind.
In this hard-earned darkness, a weird dream took me. Being chased through a shallow pool of crimson. I couldn’t turn around to see what was after me, and only darkness surrounded me. The splash of footsteps behind me, keeping pace. Somehow, just hearing it was even worse than knowing what was trying to track me down. An echo calling my name hummed in my ears as I felt constricted and trapped. My limbs felt numb and unresponsive as I struggled and fought against the invisible restraints, desperate to break free. I reached out as far as I could.
And then, with a sudden jolt of vertigo, I was free. My eyes shot open and the light of day hit me just as quickly as a thick branch did. Warmth flooded through my head and cooled instantly from the rush of air as I dropped.
Pain lit up my face as twigs and leaves scraped past me. It happened so fast, but I must have hit at least another three main branches before bouncing on the ground and sliding down the brief incline to the clearing beyond.
[Health Status]
[Nose - Broken]
[Left Wrist - Fractured (Heavy)]
[Ribs (3) - Fractured (Light)]
“Fuck you, System,” I hissed through the pain, blood running down my face. Unfair. I had brought up the information by instinct - although it didn’t take a genius to see the odd angle that my hand currently faced as I clutched it to know that it was broken. “Fuck you, trees.” I added, my eyes blurring.
The sound of Ren quickly descending her tree came from over behind me, and she slid down the incline.
“Asshole, Max - I even made it so that it was more difficult to fall out.” She put her hand on my shoulder, and I could see the concern breaking through the admonishing scowl. “Are you alright?”
“I’m… fine,” I grinned through a face that felt like it was bruising already. A pulse of radiant energy flowed through me, warming and soothing my injuries. Still, my head throbbed even as my wrist clicked and I regained the uncomfortable use of my left hand.
“Stupid shit, you can’t even be honest when you-" She paused and looked up, the slight worry in her face immediately washed away by a stoic frown.
Blinking away the pained tears, I followed her gaze out to the other side of the clearing.
Stalking through the treeline was a large creature. Bright amber eyes that were set amongst thick brown fur. It was massive.
As it stepped out of the shadowed canopy and into the light of the late afternoon, the sharp fangs of the grizzly bear glimmered with saliva. He growled and moved toward us.