The kobold shot forward, and James shouted 'Drain!' as he closed with the monster. Nothing happened, except that the kobold's sharp claws drew nearer.
Ducking under the kobold's swinging arm, James swiped his knife in an effort to cut it. A small cut appeared on the kobold's right arm, causing it to howl with pain and rage. Wheeling to face each other, James couldn't help the savage grin that appeared on his face. Something about this fight, though painful and deadly, was making him feel so ALIVE.
Barking at him, the kobold bounded forward once and then leapt into the air. Sweeping back, James again swiped out with his knife but missed. But he still wasn't done. Taging the monster with his hand, James practically screamed "Drain!"
The kobold yipped landing before creating some distance. Glowering at him, the kobold sniffed the air before bounding away, leaving James exhausted and heaving for air but alive. Glancing around to make sure there were no other surprises, James went to scoop up the woman again.
"Ugh, you're so sweaty!"
James was thoroughly done with her attitude by now.
"It's this or walk."
That abruptly shut her up. Carrying her through the streets, James saw that what had been his hometown was now a mishmash of regular homes and businesses, wild wilderness, the occasional monster, and what looked like wooden or medieval structures. Curious, James headed over to a group of them and as the two of them drew near he heard a clanging and banging that he soon saw was from an open forge where a blacksmith was using a pair of tongues and a hammer to beat out a piece of red-hot metal. Seeing them, the blacksmith looked up.
"A mermaid! Been a while since I've seen one."
"You've seen mermaids before?"
"Yeah, back when I was an adventurer."
"Huh...so then do you know about people changing races?"
"You mean a Race Change Potion? You can buy them from the Guild."
"No, I mean a screen menu appearing and asking if you want to change your race."
"Oh, the System? Yeah, happens every now and then, when the System brings in a new world."
"Do you know anything else?"
"Not really. The Adventurer's Guild might know more" he told them, pointing to the tallest wooden building with a signboard hanging over the entrance of a crossed sword and shield.
"Okay, thank you."
The two of them headed to the Adventurer's Guild, and as they approached they saw several people of different races entering and leaving. Lizardmen, beastfolk, and more humans were only some of the races. Although a few gave the two of them a weird look no one stopped them as they stepped inside.
James was impressed by the ambience. There were oil lamps, but also wide windows that while not the clear impressive quality he was used to were wide and tall to let in outside light. There was a wide area going to a counter at the far end, and as he passed he saw a signboard with rough parchment papers on his right and several tables and chairs on his left. Many of these were occupied by people enjoying alcohol and food, served by more people of different races. There was also what appeared to be a second floor. At the counter in front of them, a petite woman with tall white bunny ears indicating that she was a beastwoman stood with a smile. Seeing all of this, James made to walk towards the receptionist beastwoman.
"Hello."
"Hello sir! How may I help you?"
"Uh yeah, this woman and I just got a System thing today, and she changed her race to a mermaid. I'd like to get some information please."
"Certainly! Many who first receive the System come here for work."
She indicated the signboard behind them.
"The Adventurer's Guild gives out missions and assignments to adventurers as per their rank. All adventurers start at rank F, advancing to rank E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. All missions are posted on the notice board, and items and materials may also be purchased by the guild. We also offer lodging and dining services."
"And how much does that cost?"
"Our lodging costs twenty copper coins per person per day."
"And how much for food?"
"That depends on what you are ordering. Please speak with the wait staff to know more."
"Okay, and does it cost to register?"
"It does. One silver."
James looked up and away as he thought.
"Okay...can I pay for this woman to stay here? I know she is not a member of the guild, but..."
"You can do that; the guild doesn't mind non-guild members lodging here, as it also acts as an inn."
"Okay, great."
He mentally opened up his status screen and pressed the bronze. A small box with a 1 in it, as well as a + and - on either side of the number appeared, indicating for him to choose how much he wanted to take. Pressing the + icon until the number reached 20, he accepted and a moment later a small rough pouch of twenty copper coins appeared in his hand.
"Here."
"Thank you. Here is your room key. Just go up these stairs and take the third room on your right."
"Thank you."
James took the key, which had a 6 formed in a metal circle that made the handle of the key. It seemed smart as a way to keep track of the keys and rooms both, but it was a little strange for him when he was used to a world of elevators and card keys. Moving past the reception area he trudged up the steps at the back to the second floor, choosing the third door on their right as they had been told that had a number 6 on it as well. Opening the door, they were both met by a small bed, a tiny table and chair with an unlit candle in a candleholder resting on it...and a small stool over a pit. James recognized it as a medieval bathroom, but it made him want to retch at the poor hygiene. Still, it would do.
Gently laying the woman on the bed, he helped her sit up and get comfortable.
"Alright, stay here for now. I'll be back."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go make some money to become an adventurer."
"You won't leave me?"
"Of course not. I'll be back."
Jessica felt fear watching the man leave. While he was boorish and insufferable, he had also protected her from the wolfman. She watched him go, only to be assaulted by boredom and loneliness. Without a phone or even a mirror to check her appearance, time passed by at a crawl. The bed only had a coarse wollen blanket and was made with straw instead of a mattress, so it was not very comfortable either. Finally, she decided to try and take a nap. The pillow was lumpy, but at last her boredom and lack of activity lulled her to sleep.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The next thing she knew, there was a knock at her door, waking her up. Jessica sat up.
"Come in!" she said, thinking it was James.
The door opened, and a young tortoiselike humanoid wearing a waitress uniform entered, carrying a tray.
"Hello miss" the humanoid said in a distinctly feminine voice. "A man by the name of James asked me to send this up to you. He also asked me to ask if you needed anything else."
Jessica eagerly took the tray, realizing how hungry she was. Receiving it, she saw a wooden spoon resting beside a wooden bowl of a thin soup, with a crust of hard black bread and a mug of plain water beside it. Filling, but less than fitting fare.
"Do you know where he is?" she asked, dunking the bread in the soup.
"I believe he just registered with the guild before heading out again."
So, the man had come back without even meeting her. How rude. At least he hadn't forgotten about or abandoned her, seeing as he had sent her a meal.
"Do you know when he will be back?
"No, ma'am."
"Okay."
After a pause, the woman silently withdrew when Jessica said nothing else. When she finished her meal, grimacing at the taste, she set the tray aside since she couldn't get up to put it on the desk. After that, there was nothing else to do again, so she huffed and sat back on the bed, thinking of her favourite shows and wondering if Georgia Pierce really did pluck up her nerve to admit her crush to Guy Fawlkner. Then she thought of her favourite brands and her favourite places to shop. But there was only so much her mind could think about to entertain her for so long.
At last another knock sounded on her door as the outside that she could see through her room window began to edge towards twilight.
"Come in!" she called, assuming this time that someone had finally come for the tray. She was again wrong, as this time it was James who walked in the door.
"Hey."
"You're back."
"I am."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Aren't you going to apologize for leaving me here with nothing to do?"
James looked at her and she could have sworn she saw his eye twitch.
"I've been running around all day trying to raise money to take care of you, fighting monsters and putting my life in danger while you've had a chance to rest. If you want I could leave now. If not, please be kind and give me a break."
He didn't wait for her response, the brute, before pulling the desk chair over and sitting down beside her. He pulled a map out of nowhere and set it out in front of her.
"So here's the situation. We're here, at the town of Rothhaven."
He pointed to a mark on the map, one surrounded by distant mountains on three sides and labelled as part of Azkar Empire.
"This," he added, dragging his finger eastwards to a body of water labelled as the Sea of Cazamir. "Is the Sea of Cazamir. Since you are a mermaid, it seems like our best bet. So unless you have a better idea, I think you'll stay here tonight, and in the morning we'll start heading there. Sound good?"
"I guess. Did you register with the guild?"
"I did. Didn't make much money through their quests as I'm still only rank F, but I found out we have an inventory that can be used to store things. I used that to raid my old house of anything I thought might be useful and sell the rest."
"What inventory?"
"Go to your status screen."
She looked at him blankly.
"You still haven't seen it? Say 'Status.'"
"Status."
Her own character stats appeared.
Name: Jessica Klassen
Race: Mermaid
Age: 21
Profession: Dancer
Level: 1
HP: 50/50
MP: 20/20
Strength: 2 (+)
Agility: 4 (+)
Constitution: 5 (+)
Intelligence: 2 (+)
Wisdom: 3 (+)
Charisma: 6 (+)
Luck: 4 (+)
Points Remaining: 10
Abilities:
Dance of the Maiden (Level 1)
"Do you see it?"
"I see a...a blue screen-"
"That's it. Now say Inventory."
"Inventory."
A new screen appeared, one with several empty slots, none of them filled with anything but dark black space.
"You should now see the inventory function. If you put an item or money into it, it will store it for you. Funny thing, I thought I needed to carry everything with me until someone else pointed this out to me."
"And what's the status screen?"
"That's your character sheet. Put your points where you want them. Oh, and do you have an ability? What's your profession?"
"It's dancer."
"Alright, and your ability?"
"It's...Dance of the Maiden."
"Okay. Select it please, tell me what it does."
"How do I do that?"
"Go to it and press it with your finger or mentally select it. Basically you have to think that you want to open it."
She did so and another blue window appeared.
Dance of the Maiden (Level 1)
Increases you and your allies attack by 5%
She told him what the ability did, and he nodded.
"Okay. Thank you for telling me, but in the future I would advise that you keep your profession and abilities secret. While some may be curious, we don't know what other people may want to use your abilities for. That said, I think that if you raise your levels you can be invaluable to a raid party."
"What's a raid party?"
"A group of people that adventure or attack something together."
"What if I don't want to fight?"
"That's fine. You can also practice your ability to level it up. We'll find a way, miss...shoot, I still don't know your name."
"It's Jessica" she answered, looking up at the man balefully who had only now bothered to even learn her name.
"Jessica. Sorry. And I'm James. So, with all that said, do you agree with this plan? I figure that as a mermaid it makes sense to take you to water."
"I agree with this."
"Okay. Then rest up, and I will see you tomorrow. Oh, but before I forget..."
He put the map away in his own inventory, and then pulled out a regular Earth hunting knife and handed it hilt-first to her.
"Keep this in your inventory at all times. You never know when you might need to use it."
Jessica abruptly felt exhausted by her new rough surroundings, but also touched by his concern.
"Thank you" she said as she accepted the knife. James nodded, and without another word he left the room, closing the door and locking it behind him.