The System would keep you alive, if you let it. Not that it cared whether you died or not, but it liked it when you played by the rules. Healing magic or items could bring you back from the brink, as staying alive was the core desire of the ability. It couldn’t mend your soul, or mental health, and was content enough to leave you bruised and achy - but broken bones and split organs could be mended in a flash. If you were quick enough.
I sat on the grass as the elf slowly circled me, inspecting my hatless head for any signs of damage. The System message was quite clear that I had a healed skull fracture, although there was little current evidence for the claim.
“There’s definitely some bruising. A bit of blood dried in your hair. No other signs of trauma.” She stopped in front of me and kneeled down. “Focus straight ahead.”
My eyes stared off toward the horizon, while she loomed in closer to make sure my pupils were the right size or something. I wasn’t entirely sure, but after two bandages I was feeling back to normal - aside from some soreness. My right eye twitched as she moved her face even closer. Could almost feel the warmth of her body heat.
“This is a medical examination, Max. I can get Wolf to do it if this makes you uncomfortable.”
The bear moved his wet snout down to sniff at the other side of my head. It was a sensory overload, and I found myself unprepared for… pretty much everything that was happening. Bring on the near-death experiences instead.
“I smell nothing wrong with him. It’s just the suit, I think.” Wolf moved away to sneeze across the grass.
Ren sighed and stood back up, patting me on the head. “Alright, trickster. Don’t exert yourself too hard. We don’t need your head bleeding all the time too.”
“Agreed,” I said, allowing myself a few seconds to relax and adjust before I stood up. Top hat back on and I felt complete. My decrepit social life in the old world hadn’t prepared me to be assaulted by the constant presence of… these two. “We should head out.”
There were no disagreements, so with one last look at the Map, we began our journey. It was actually nice having a third in the Party, as now the pair of them could make small talk and I didn’t feel like I had to speak as much. Not that I didn't enjoy having all eyes on me, but I was still trying to settle my jumbled thoughts. Not least of all because most of them had just tried to tangibly paint the surroundings. Whether that dream had meant anything or not... I put aside. I was content enough to keep to myself and observe nature. All the trees and grass, some more trees. It was… nice.
The temperature cooled as the sun headed across the sky. We’d arrive at the bandit encampment a little before dusk, so light shouldn’t be a problem. Assuming they were easy enough to murder, then we’d be out and safe before night fell. With Wolf on our side, we could up the pace and the danger. Roger was a good demon, if you could stretch the definition of 'good', but he couldn’t be our main threat absorption. His cooldown was clear now, so he could come help us with the bandits. Oddly enough, I was looking forward to seeing him again. Abrasive in his own way, but weren't we all? He at least didn't ask pointed questions about my emotional competency.
Idly, I brought up a magic card and moved it through the air. I could slow them down a little now, not that it seemed helpful on the surface. After it returned, I caught it and allowed it to vanish. My brow furrowed in thought, and then I opened up my Inventory.
“Hey, Ren?”
She turned and caught the apple I threw to her. “Yeah?”
“Throw that back, please.”
She shrugged, but did so. I held out my hand, and it vanished instead of landing into my grip. With a flourish, I brought it back out into my hand. The gears were still turning in my head.
“I can see where this is going, Max. No.” Ren shook her head.
Interestingly, Wolf had a Dazzle debuff on him. Ren did not, and I had not seen one over her in the fights against the thieves. I put a bookmark on those thoughts for later.
“That’s probably sensible.” I grinned. “How about just throwing the apple at me?”
She rolled her eyes, but caught it deftly as I returned it. She bared her teeth and wound back, pitching at me as hard as she was able.
The apple thudded off of my chest, and then vanished. “Ow,” I complained, rubbing at the spot where my next bruise would form. “But, thank you.”
Another tick-box filled with details on how the System worked. I could loot items from the air if they were nearby, but not if they were an attack. Probably a good thing we didn’t immediately jump to testing it with an arrow as I had first imagined. The showmanship of plucking ranged projectiles out of the air clouding my sensible desire not to be a pincushion.
Wolf just looked perplexed, his amber eyes wide.
“Max uses magic and tricks,” Ren tried to explain as they continued walking. “He can manipulate things in and out of his Inventory.”
"So he doesn't have lots of meat in his hat?"
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She shook her head, but that seemed to make the bear appear more impressed rather than disappointed.
I was too busy inside my own head to capitalize on that. My mental footwork was stepping on crunchy gravel, new ideas underfoot and underway. The more questions I could answer, the more I would be able to accomplish. Answers would just have to hurry up. I was impatient.
“I’m a visual learner,” the bear said with a blank expression, clearly now interested as to where the food actually came from. “Can you show me an example?”
Ren didn’t look too enthused about it, but raised an arm to me. Enter stage left. Or right?
I shrugged. A smile crossed my face, and I gave a bow as the bear turned fully to face me. I brought down my top hat and pulled a set of meaty ribs out from within. Dazzle icon. I drew my arm back and went to throw it to Wolf - his eyes lighting up and maw opening. Just as the meat left my hand, I had it swapped, and instead of the tasty morsel a handful of red flowers flew out and landed limply on the grass. Second Dazzle icon and a rather sad bear's face.
“Do not fret, young… Sir.” I walked up to him. “As - what is this behind your ear?”
I cupped his furred ear and then withdrew my hand, now holding the ribs once more. Third Dazzle icon. “All yours.” I smiled and placed it into his wanting maw.
“I think the best part of the trick was the faux charisma.” Ren stood with arms crossed and no Dazzle icons.
I shrugged. “I’ve had my fair share of hecklers who looked like they would still be unimpressed if I tore my own heart out on stage.” It was hard to gauge how much of this was just friendly banter with how she scowled at me all the time. Perhaps there was something cultural I was missing.
“Probably the only...“ She stopped herself and shook her head. “We’re almost there. Let’s save our energy for the Quest.”
“I liked the bit where the meat came back,” Wolf murmured.
We continued onward again, and Ren filled the bear in on all the details. About not eating the little demons that I summoned. Lady in Red and a potential gang on the rise that might be after us. Everything important that happened in New Forest. Some of what being a Player and leveling up in the world meant. I didn't really listen in too intently.
My mind was mostly elsewhere. A headache loomed that made me wish I had some normal human painkillers to take. The fact that I could Dazzle my allies was odd and stuck out like a sore thumb. The most straightforward answer I could come to would be that I may get an ability that could buff or assist my Party in some way in the future. That’d be a tough sell, considering Ren hadn’t been fooled by a single trick yet.
Perhaps that just meant I needed to try harder. Nothing too simple or easy to wave away as being Inventory tricks. Something for a clearer mind. Mine was fast becoming foggy, and I needed any wits about me for the bandits.
Ren slowed down to walk beside me. “You seem off. Did I go too far?”
“No, just feeling a bit rough. Sometimes you need a harsh critic to sharpen your tools.” I gave her a smile but could already see her glare cutting through the attempt to downplay my status.
“Don’t be afraid to call me out. I’m only your harshest critic because I believe the show could be better. I’m... invested in your successful performances.” She pulled a face at herself. “Gross. How can you use all that terminology without cringing?”
“Many years of gaslighting myself into believing that I was some kind of visionary.”
“Careful, trickster.” She shook her head as she sped back up to join Wolf. “Some cracks starting to show there.”
Yeah, right down the middle of my head. Or at least, that’s how it felt. It was only by a miracle of my Sleight of Hand bonus that I had the foresight to grab at the healing Charm as I fell. A second or two later and my brain would have decorated the ground beneath the tree. I could still remember the brief flash of pain, the instant my skull split before the radiant magic sealed it back up. As much as I hated knowing, my idle thoughts brought up my current status.
[Health Status]
[Mild Trauma]
Nothing specifically broken or wounded in a way the System cared for or could assist with. My physical body disagreed. Chest and arm, bruised and sensitive. Left wrist aching and stiff. Nose tender, and my head still felt like it wanted to continue the job and open up like a walnut. Mild trauma.
Once upon a time, I was doing a show that involved some ladder work. I had put the wrong shoes on and slipped halfway up, fracturing my ankle as I landed awkwardly. Still put on shows through the recovery - but I had to change up tricks. Less movement and a more static experience, but still with the same flair. The restriction had made me a better magician - shuffled me down a path to thinking outside the box I had been comfortable in. That's what I told myself, anyway.
Did my current pain now do that? No, I’d much rather find a real bed somewhere and hibernate. Fighting had forced my current improvements, though - I couldn’t deny that. Figuring out how to win a fight or ply the tools that I had at my disposal was…
My mind drifted off as a small patch of flowers caught my eye. A beautiful sky blue. As much as it was a shame to pick them, I was sure the System could find more. A select handful made it into my Inventory to replace the roses I had thrown to impress Wolf.
Kleptomaniac, she had called me. A little on the harsh side, even if she was pulling at threads to annoy me. As adventurers, we spent plenty of time looting and taking whatever things that we wanted. I just had a broader definition of what was valuable or useful. I brought up my Inventory again and started to arrange items. It looked as though the display only showed a six-by-five grid at once, which was reasonable for now. Small objects to be thrown in the top row. Heavy items to drop in the middle. Healing and other useful consumables in the bottom row.
For a moment, as we walked, I read over each item a few times to remember their placing. Then I messed around with changing tabs and different menus options, trying to see if I could speed up the process. The throb of pain down the middle of my head made it less of an optimal practice, and eventually I gave it a rest. Part of me wanted to split the assortment of cards up in a way that made it easier to grab an Ace, or a specific suit… but currently there was no benefit. I wasn't doing actual tricks.
Nevertheless, my brain still buzzed with how many slots it would take up, and how best to organize them - for when I did. Apparently, traveling around a new world with a radiant elf trying to pry open my bottled emotions with a crowbar, and a talking bear who… well, that required no more qualifiers - all this had become too mundane. I had barely even registered that the pair had now stopped in front of me.
I stepped up between them and narrowed my eyes over the bushes just before us. If the bandit camp in the New Forest had been a town, then what lay ahead was a city. A miniature fortress made of cut logs blocked the view of how many bandits lay within. At each corner, a watchtower sprung up, two figures sitting in each.
Two small groups patrolled close to the walls in a clockwise direction. Two groups much farther apart circled wider in an anticlockwise direction. Some amount of noise could be heard even from this distance. The murmur of talking, clang of metal, and occasional jeer or humored laugh.
“Wow,” I murmured, “what an audience we have tonight.”