Iter failed to elaborate on his statement by the time we paid and left the restaurant. I could see Bushra's intensity had gone down, but it was only banked, not extinguished. I picked up the bill as thanks for returning my things. We were all in a contemplative mood during the walk back to her car, a red compact electric model parked near the front of my house.
I gave Bushra my contact info before she left, and she promised to send me the access credentials to get started right away. We agreed to work out the next details online, including where and when to meet next. Truthfully, I was skeptical where this would lead, or even if we could maintain the momentum. But I couldn't completely dismiss the floating feeling of hope and excitement intermingling. I waved goodbye with those emotions and ideas whirling around inside me, and stood on the sidewalk with Iter as Bushra drove away.
"Mai, please check Location." Iter suddenly requested. He stood behind me, looking around as if seeking something.
"Okay, sure." I brought the map up and moved so he could see it. In addition to the house and the street, there were my pointer and Iter's blue dot. Also, the question mark upstairs and the weird box icon showed up again, roughly in the same spots as I saw them last. Iter pointed to the box icon immediately.
"There. Let Us take a look," and he began walking with purpose over to the side of the house, down a walkway leading to the two other apartments in this building. I followed.
Iter reached the spot near the wall displayed on Location, and began peering around at the ground.
"Uh, is this what I think it is?" I began looking around, too.
"It depends on what you think it is," he responded, moving aside the lower branches of the shrubbery to look beneath.
"I mean, are we going to find rupees in the tall grass or something?" It seemed unbelievable to me, but no more so than everything else to do with this hero business.
Iter stopped and stood up, looking at me and frowning. "Even through the translation skill We do not understand what you are saying. Why would there be Indian currency in the grass?"
"Ah, just a reference to a video game. Rupees are colored gems in that game used for money, and they are typically found in pots or by cutting grass scattered about for the hero to find." It sounded weird when I described it to someone out loud.
"Strange. Well then," he said, holding out his closed hand. "Here is your rupee, Mai."
I put out my hand, palm up. Iter cupped my hand with his left hand, and then dropped something small and shiny into it from his right. I was entranced at first, oddly feeling a child-like joy at receiving something out of my youth. I examined the object in my palm.
"This is a ring?" A gold band with a row of small diamonds along one half of the circumference. It looked like an anniversary band. I rubbed away some caked soil and plant matter. It seemed like the ring had been in the dirt for a while. It was smaller than would fit on any of my fingers, so I assumed it belonged to a woman. Worth a bit, I suppose, but a far cry from fulfilling a youthful fantasy.
"Your Location can display unclaimed treasure that you can find. We understood money, gems, and precious metals to be valuable tools for the Hero to make use of. We are glad to see it will be of service to you here as well." He inclined his head in a regal and self-satisfied nod.
"Huh." I turned the ring around and over, examining it. I idly wondered how many pieces of jewelry I'd have to find each month for rent. On the inside I saw an inscription: 'For Grace, all my love'. Hmm? Oh.
I gave Iter a weak smile, and walked past him. He looked confused and followed as I went down the path on the side of the large Victorian building, and pushed the bell on the first door. A moment went by, and an elderly woman opened it, wearing a maroon cardigan and with her gray hair tied in a loose bun. Bright blue eyes peered out from behind metal framed glasses, and an uncertain smile formed beneath them.
"Mai, isn't it? How can I help you?"
"Good morning Mrs. Klein. Did you happen to lose this?" I said, showing her the ring.
"Oh my goodness," her fingers reached out to recover the ring. Her hands trembled slightly as I handed it to her, whether from some condition of age or emotion, I couldn't tell. She turned the ring around in her hand, inspecting every surface. "Where did you find this!"
"My friend found it under a shrub down the path just now. You must have dropped it somehow." I smiled gently.
"Bless you, oh bless you both," she breathed, pressing my shoulder with her other hand as if physically trying to impart her gratitude. Her vision was locked on the ring. "I thought it was gone." I could see tears welling up in her eyes, as she at last looked from the ring, to me, to Iter, and back to the ring again.
"Take good care of it, Mrs. Klein. We have to go now," I backed away, for a couple of reasons: first, to avoid an offer of food or drink I was sure was coming. "Have a pleasant day," I said quickly, and turned aside.
We left Mrs. Klein at her doorstep, shaking her head slightly, with one hand to her mouth and the other clutching the ring to her breast. I went swiftly back around to my place, Iter following slightly behind. I walked up the stairs tensely, almost not daring to breathe. It wasn't until I walked inside and closed the door that I focused my attention on the other reason I'd made a hasty retreat: two pop-up notifications had appeared in the bottom right of my field of vision once I'd given Mrs. Klein the ring.
Quest Complete.
A Love Remembered.
Level Up!
You are now Level 2.
Mrs. Klein has lived alone the entire time I've known her. I only knew her first name from seeing her mail every now and then. I turned to Iter and asked, my voice rising in bewildered dismay, "Is being a hero going to make things like that happen all the time?"
✦ ✦ ✦
Inside, I took off my fleece coat, and reached out to Iter for his padded jacket. He handed it over to me, and I hung them both up. Then we made our way back to the front room. Taiga was back in the window, this time measuring us with her gaze as we entered.
"So I leveled up," I sat on the edge of the chair, arms dangling below my knees. "What's that do?" I couldn't muster much enthusiasm at this point.
"That is wonderful news!" Iter exclaimed. He actually clapped his hands together in front of him. "Congratulations, Mai!"
"Yeah, thanks, it's amazing," I replied in a monotone. "But what's it do?"
"We should see your Status," he remarked, and popped up from the couch to come look over my shoulder.
I obediently brought up my Status and took a look.
> Name: Mai Carrigan
> Race: Human
> Class: Hero
> Level: 2 (+)
> Condition: Normal
>
> Core Attributes (10 attribute points available)
> Body: 30 (x1.25 = 37)
> Spirit: 70 (x1.25 = 87)
> Mind: 50 (x1.25 = 62)
> Luck: 50 (x1.25 = 62)
>
> Derived Attributes
> Health: 37 (+)
> Magic: 0 [max 87] (+)
> Focus: 62 (+)
> Charm: 62
>
> Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
>
> Intuition: 50
> Will: 75
> Fate: ??? (+)
>
>
>
> Skills (1 skill point available)
> Communion of the Soul, Appraisal, Inventory, Divine Translation, Hero's Journey (minor bonus to experience), Champion of Light (minor bonus to Body), Inner Eye (minor bonus to Spirit), Adept of Ages (minor bonus to Mind), Fortune's Favor (minor bonus to Luck), Swift Regeneration (minor bonus to Health recovery), Spiritual Harmony (minor bonus to Magic recovery), Still Mind (minor bonus to Focus recovery), Destiny's Chosen (minor bonus to Fate), Inner Alchemy (convert Health/Magic/Focus)
"Level two now – and I have attribute points and a skill point?" Okay, I felt myself getting more excited. This was pretty cool. Powering up core attributes sounds like it would raise others, too. And a new skill? I owe my life to Swift Regeneration, something useful like that would be outstanding.
"As you grow in your experience with the Communion, you can tap a greater accumulation of the Divinity within you. Your level is representative of that growth." Iter's eyes were wide and sparkling at the display in front of me. He turned to me, flushed with excitement. "You must decide how to apportion your new attribute points and select a skill." The elation emanating from him was a little intoxicating.
I turned to the screen, and decided to start with the attributes. From my gaming knowledge, some skills had prerequisites, so bringing up the attributes might mean more options for the skill. If this were a game, I'd be looking up an online guide or wiki to learn more about what attributes went with each skill, but that obviously wasn't going to be available. Or maybe I had another option?
"Iter, are there any details about the skills you can tell me, like are there attribute thresholds or prerequisites, or skill trees to invest in for super powered skills down the line?"
"Sadly, We have not that knowledge. What skills are available are subjective to the Hero, so We do not know what may appear or when." His eyes hadn't dimmed, however. "We can only recommend to be true to yourself and choose what feels right." He closed her eyes in bliss, and opened them wide. "We truly cannot wait to see what kind of Hero you will become!"
Do what feels right? I rubbed my chin, considering. Okay.
I focused on the attributes and looked at what my current spread was like. Body was lowest, followed by Mind and Luck, and then Spirit was the highest. If Spirit is the attribute for Magic, it seemed like I'd been following a magic user template so far. But given that magic was non-existent in this world, that doesn't seem like it would help. Luck seems an attribute with broad applicability, but it was too unpredictable. Bringing up Mind and Body seemed like the right play. It never hurts to be stronger or smarter. I could raise one of them by a full 10 points, but this time I chose to split them to see if I could learn more about how they each affected me. It was changing two variables at a time, but I figured I could tell Body and Mind effects apart. If not, well, I suppose I could try a different tactic when I leveled up again. With this decided, the Status screen immediately updated.
> Core Attributes
> Body: 35 (x1.25 = 43)
> Spirit: 70 (x1.25 = 87)
> Mind: 55 (x1.25 = 68)
> Luck: 50 (x1.25 = 62)
>
> Derived Attributes
> Health: 43 (+)
> Magic: 0 [max 87] (+)
> Focus: 68 (+)
> Charm: 65
> Intuition: 56
> Will: 78
> Fate: ??? (+)
I felt… a little different? I'd have to figure out how to test it somehow. But first, let's take a look at the skill options. I focused on the skill point, and a new menu overlaid on top of my status:
Available Skills:
Armor proficiency
Weapon Proficiency
Shield proficiency
Unarmed proficiency
Air Magic Novice
Earth Magic Novice
Fire Magic Novice
Water Magic novice
Follow the Leader
Nimble Escape
Shadow Step
Subtle Senses
Uhm, what's with these skills. I mean, maybe it's not too surprising, given the fantasy theme of this whole Hero business. But the top skills were all about combat – fantasy combat, no less, with armor, shields, etc. None of that would be remotely useful to me, unless I started LARPing or working at a Renaissance Fair. The next set of skills were all about magic, which sounded exciting at first read, but they were grayed out and apparently unselectable. I suppose the lack of magic in this world meant you couldn't pick magic skills. That left the last four, which I was uneasy about. If the first two groups of skills were warrior and mage focused, this last set seemed geared toward a rogue-type class. I wasn't too keen on investing in skills suited for skulking and stealing. The two that I thought were more generally applicable were Follow the Leader and Subtle Senses. I asked Iter about them.
"Let me see," He peered at the skill list, attempting to divine (literally) the skills' effects. "'Follow the Leader' is a party skill, it grants a boost to a party member's attribute of your choice. It is similar to the bonuses you receive to your skills, except it applies to your team, not to you. It is also an active skill and uses Focus while it is on. Ah," he smiled, "it seems the bonus it provides is linked to any bonus you currently have active, which in your case is all of them. Rather than a standard 10% bonus, they receive your 25% bonus instead." He nodded, proud of his contribution.
He continued, "'Subtle Senses is another active skill that extends the range of your visual and auditory perception. You would be able to hear a mouse scampering hundreds of feet away, or count the whiskers of the cat about to pounce on it."
Subtle Senses sounded cool, but I wonder how practical it would be in this world. The first uses that came to mind were all espionage-related, and I was trying very hard not to fall into that role. Follow the Leader is a party skill? So far my party consisted of Bushra. Giving her a boost when we're working together might be useful, but I wasn't sure exactly how.
I debated for a few more moments, and ultimately chose Follow the Leader. In games, I'd always leaned into support roles that buffed my companions, so this seemed like more my style.
> Skills
> Communion of the Soul, Appraisal, Inventory, Divine Translation, Hero's Journey (minor bonus to experience), Champion of Light (minor bonus to Body), Inner Eye (minor bonus to Spirit), Adept of Ages (minor bonus to Mind), Fortune's Favor (minor bonus to Luck), Swift Regeneration (minor bonus to Health recovery), Spiritual Harmony (minor bonus to Magic recovery), Still Mind (minor bonus to Focus recovery), Destiny's Chosen (minor bonus to Fate), Inner Alchemy (convert Health/Magic/Focus), Follow the Leader
I wasn't sure how to go about testing it with Bushra, without bringing up all the hero stuff. As I thought about my party member, suddenly a new display appeared in front of me:
Party
Name: Bushra Patel
Race: Human
Class: Software Engineer
Level: 1
Condition: Normal
Disposition: Friendly
Core Attributes
Body: 40
Spirit: 30
Mind: 75
Luck: 10
Derived Attributes
Health: 40
Magic: 0 [max 30]
Focus: 75
Charm: 35
Intuition: 57
Will: 52
Fate: ???
Skills
Divine Translation (Party), Inventory (Party)
"What the…" I breathed. I could see Bushra's stats on my screen. This was similar to Appraisal, but with more information. And she wasn't even here.
"Ms. Patel has exceptional starting attributes," Iter examined the screen analytically. "You have chosen an outstanding party member, Mai."
I mean, I knew she was intelligent. But Body: 40? She was smarter and stronger than me? Well, before I leveled up, anyway. I was ashamed of how relieved I was that I'd added those Body attribute points, but I looked at my arms dubiously. Maybe I should be working out more. The commute alone can make it hard to exercise, but maybe I could… oh yeah, no commute. I looked up and saw Iter looking back at me, sympathetically.
"Why aren't you in my party?" I asked, suddenly.
Iter's eyebrows went up, then lowered. He turned his face away. "We are your God. We are not a party member. We do not participate in your journey in that way."
"Why not?" I wondered, genuinely. It seemed like a natural thing to do, now that I knew party mechanics were a thing. I thought of all the ways it would be useful to have Iter in the party, and the experiments I could run.
"We cannot." He shut the conversation down, and walked away.