The DM faced many challenges himself when dealing with Earth317 humans, one of those was the vast diversity of their lives. On his world, people differed in experiences, families, jobs, and personalities of course. However, the range of existences that these Earth humans faced was unparalleled in comparison. From the varying races to religions. Not to mention the scale of the inequality. It was always going to be hard for the DM to run this game smoothly, but with his lack of insight into the people playing the game, it's all but impossible.
**
The orc priest and its marauder bodyguard glanced at the man wielding the peculiar weapon. They had witnessed similar weapons used by Earth's security forces, but those attempts had always ended in frustration. Flechette-type weapons had been deployed, but they ran out of ammunition before making a significant impact. This human, however, not only possessed a functioning weapon but also displayed remarkable skill with it.
"Go and cut his head off," the priest ordered the marauder. He didn't need to say it twice. The marauders were a significant upgrade over the brutes, but intelligence was not their forte. The marauder took a few steps before meeting a swift demise, his head pierced by two holes. The priest unleashed a quick area-of-effect lightning bolt and retreated behind the building.
**
Travis sensed the ozone heating up and knew an attack was imminent. Whether it was due to his new attributes or his heightened sensitivity to magic, he couldn't tell. He had a low clip and risking a few shots could jeopardize both his and the woman's safety. Ducking behind a car, he narrowly avoided a haphazardly cast spell that struck the front half of the car opposite him and the surrounding street.
Peeking out, Travis saw an opportunity. He shot a flare into the air and rushed to help the woman, who was finally untangling her feet. It was as if she had been merely observing a street performance.
"Come on, my friend is coming with a car," Travis yelled, his adrenaline fueling his urgency. "Are you a player character?" he was far from comfortable referring to someone as that, but as he did he could feel the weight of her presence, knowing the answer before finishing the question.
This was related to the feelings the DM could send. The people on earth could be led towards a certain outcome but not controlled. The way the game was setup certain things were designed to send an automatic feeling or suggestion to a player. Player proximity was one of these. Travis had the strongest sense in this area being the MC.
As he ranked up he would be able to sense player characters, strong monsters and even powerful weapons and artifacts before seeing them.
---
For a moment, she contemplated killing him and assuming the role of the main character. Dismissing the idea almost as fast as it came to her. For one thing she was not out of danger yet, for another she had no reason to think she could kill him before his friend came. Let's just see how it went this time, with this guy.
“Yes, my name is Anna. Are you the famous main character?” she said with a smile, Anna had gone into character, she was prepared to play this guy until her fortunes changed.
Anna would learn if they spent time together that Travis was one of the most straightforward individuals that her or anyone else had met. You did not need to put a mask on around him. There was no need for pretense, you could be yourself, and he would judge you based on that. He didn't mistreat people without reason, and even then, he hesitated.
It was a trait he had always possessed but one that had been forged in the fires of Afghanistan and Syria. Conversing with tribal chiefs trying to glean information, who had been shooting at you the day before, having to be polite and respectful, and being able to read men who were supposed to be allies - these were the skills that determined whether you and your men would live to see another day.
"Forged in fire" is a phrase thrown around frequently, perhaps even in this tale, undeservedly. However, when it's said about Travis, it's undeniably true. He was truly forged in fire.
***
Torak observed the three humans driving away in the Earth vehicle. He vaguely remembered they were called cars, but he didn't know where the memory came from.
The wolf pack leader and high-level psionic mage was an anomaly in the early game. The DM had given him exceptional intelligence and advanced powers at that level to ensure the werewolf pack didn't become uncontrollable. It was one of the first monster hordes the DM had created. Due to its proximity to the MC and multiple PCs, he didn't want the wolves to wreak havoc so early in the game.
Thus, Torak was made, a powerful being with telepathic communication abilities and other extraordinary powers, coupled with a few basic destructive magic spells. This led to the existence of a fully sentient werewolf mage with immense powers roaming the world.
The wolf's encounter with Travis had been unplanned; that family should have been killed on the trail then Travis would of never stopped to investigate, but the wolf had stopped to eat that stupid dog. This series of events had led the MC to a confrontation with the wolf mage, a confrontation that turned into a conversation. Flowing from that was an odd fascination with the man with the powerful weapon. Torak had been trying to come up with a defense for those blinding fast metal darts that shot from that it. So far though neither magic nor alchemy had found an answer. Another reason to engage in discussion and not destruction, with the man they called Travis.
***
Travis could sense the mage; he did not know he was being observed, but it was a fair assumption. They were now connected, although Travis didn't understand the purpose or the plan. At least he knew who and what he was.
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Torak, however, was the one forming the plans, but had no idea where he came from or how he got there. An unintended consequence of Torak's high intelligence was that it subdued his aggression. Now, he was calculated in his violence, unlike his underlings.
He might have even had the capacity for empathy, but lacking any history or background, the concept was foreign to him. Most people feel empathy due to some form of relatability, but Torak lacked this ability. Despite this, he was growing every day.
---
Anna noticed Clyde giving her a look, and she met his gaze, her expression unreadable. Clyde's message was clear to her: "I was here first, miss. Don't try anything, or else." Anna didn't find it particularly threatening coming from him though.
Clyde, despite seeing Anna's bloodied and bruised face, recognized her potential attractiveness when she climbed into the back of the SUV. His stare was assessing, devoid of malice. This woman had clearly been through a lot, but she appeared composed, he thought. Anna returned his look, Clyde unaware of her calculating processes.
He did have an advantage over most men who interacted with Anna – he didn't personally find her attractive. He didn't find any women attractive for that matter. It wasn't a significant aspect of his life; Clyde had never been driven by a strong libido. Observing his friends getting entangled in romantic dramas, becoming heartbroken, he felt content with his lack of a "social life".
Finally, Travis spoke up, "Would you like me to clean your cuts? We seem to be out of immediate danger."
"I have medical supplies in my bag. Is that your infinite bag?" Anna asked, pointing to Travis's bag opposite her in the back seat. [infinite bag, the DM thought, how interesting]
"Infinite bag, is that what they're called?" Travis replied in what most people would consider a neutral tone.
Anna started retrieving a medkit from her smaller bag. "Oh, I don't know if that's an official name or anything. It's just what I call it." Her tone had an edge, clearly disliking being answered with a question.
Travis caught the subtleties; it was one of his superpowers. "I love that. Yes, it's mine. But honestly, we've neglected the bag. I just put more stuff in it this morning than the basics I would have brought with me anyway."
She softened a tad, "Yeah, it's great. Where are we going?"
Clyde moved to answer, but a faint signal from Travis made him halt. Anna noticed it but misread the subtle cue as something sinister.
"Forgive me for asking another question, but do you have a mission to reach a safe zone or a safe house?" Travis inquired, always seeking more information than he gave, especially when he wasn't sure about the situation or person.
"My last mission was to meet up with you, which I did. I should check my bag for a prize, actually." She smiled, her battered appearance doing little to subdue her striking features.
Anna was at a disadvantage with Travis as well; while he certainly found women attractive, he didn't let it interfere with his work. Whether he was hunting down ISIS commanders, analyzing underperforming stocks with the potential to surge at his day job, former day job now, or participating in a real-life RPG campaign, he remained focused on the task at hand.
"Wait, you get prizes in your bag. We haven't gotten anything, have we?" Clyde said. Travis noticed the 'we' as did Anna. Even if it bothered Travis, which it didn't, he wouldn't have said anything in front of her.
"No, the bag has not brought forth gifts for us," Travis said jokingly, trying to keep everything light.
"Come to think of it, I have not checked for prizes. Let me look in the journal." Travis actually wanted to look in the journal because he remembered the feeling he had when he came close to Anna.
He picked it up and turned to the party section. The girl seemed exhausted and was just sitting with her head back. She was actually in her normal, vulnerable state at this moment. A lack of adrenaline combined with a lack of sleep and proper nourishment had made her dead tired.
Travis didn't see her in the Party section, so he turned the page and found sections that he hadn't even known were in here or had recently been added.
He had to admit that he was not properly using the tools he was given as the main character. Obviously, he had a bigger bag than this woman; he guessed his journal had features hers did not as well. He needed to maximize his opportunities, and that meant digging into the game as much as he could.
The page after the maps was titled ‘PC(s) in your area’. It had a summary of Anna's character sheet.
Anna Gomez
Tier 3/Level 4
Class - NA
Attributes:
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 6.5
Reflexes: 11
Endurance: 8
Charisma: 9.5
Secondary Attributes
Luck: 9 Willpower: 10 Perception: 11
So, she's level 4, huh? I can't imagine how she got so much experience being by herself, he contemplated as he looked at her sheet.
Oh, I think I'm level 4 too, he thought. This is what Travis meant when he said he needed to play the game with more focus. Why didn't he check HIS stats ASAP?
Travis saw that he had reached level 4. He had killed two orcs. Anna had killed a bunch more, but a couple that she wounded ended up living, and it became exponentially harder to rank up the higher you got.
For some reason, he hated seeing that .5 for reflexes. He learned the hard way that Clyde was right, and he should upgraded it to give him near-superhuman gun skills. He wondered if he could upgrade by half-points. He thought about it, and it worked.
So, he put 2.5 into reflexes and the other 0.5 into charisma to even that out as well. He knew it seemed dumb to do it that way, but until he saw what the classes were, each attribute had immense value.
His attributes now looked like this:
Base Attributes:
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 10
Reflexes: 12
Endurance: 12
Charisma: 8
This was all done in about a minute and a half by Travis. Anna decided to use her intuition and ask an uncomfortable question, feigning naivety.
Actually, her high perception had picked up on something in the air with Clyde; it started as Travis looked at his sheet.
"I don't think I caught your name," she said, this time looking at Clyde through the rearview mirror.
"Me? Oh, I'm Clyde. Anna, right? Nice to meet you," Clyde said evenly.
"You too, Clyde, you too. What level are you, and what's your specialty?" she put some sauce on that last word, like a playfulness that she did not mean at all.
"Specialty?" he asked.
"Yeah, you know, like Mr. Main character here is the take-charge gunplay guy, and I'm the femme fatale with an ornate blade that drips with monster blood. What are you, like the smart sidekick that helps to solve puzzles?" She laid it on pretty thick.
More and more tired yet also more frustrated that she had to again rely on the kindness of men. The strange part of it was that Anna wouldn't have been happy if the car had two women in it either. She was a damaged person who found fault with others. She was a fighter though, so Travis would have to decide what to do with her.
Clyde just kind of looked in the rearview, then he looked at Travis, and they started laughing their asses off.