The next day I awoke to birdsong and discovered the mess I’d made of the bed. I spent the next hour cleaning my armour and then my body. The blood had somehow seeped through my tunic and dried onto my skin, and some had even gotten into my hair and crusted it into disgusting clumps. The sheet had become like Velcro and it was an arduous process of peeling it off my cuirass where it had bonded to the metal.
Having to clean myself up after every Stage was a serious pain in the ass to deal with, though perhaps it was also a way to force us Players to rest and have time to think, instead of encouraging over-eagerness, which could easily lead to carelessness, especially when planning and preparing was such an integral part.[1]
Speaking of which, I needed to visit Father Adam, so I could finally learn alchemy from the Alchemist.
Then a ping reminded me that I’d forgotten something. I pulled up my Katana progression tree and was faced with the choice of ‘Quick Draw Follow-Up’ or ‘Lacerate’. I liked the Quick Draw skill, but variety was important too. After a minute or two of debating it with myself, I chose Lacerate. It was, according to its description, a fast, double slash attack, though I had no idea about its strength. The understanding of how to operate this new skill entered my mind just like it had with Quick Draw. It was a strange feeling, like I suddenly remembered something I’d never known. I wondered if this newfound skill would stay with me if I eventually made it back to Earth. If so, the moment we were all released from here, Earth would no doubt see a steep rise in medieval-weapon-related crimes and murders. As this realisation hit me, I suddenly felt very sure that there was no way we’d get to keep the knowledge and skills we’d gained. Would the memory of the Watcher and his Realm even remain with us? I doubted it.
I equipped my armour, but left the cloak in my inventory, and, for a moment, I stared out the window, contemplating if I should leap from it or take the risk and go through the tavern below. I decided on taking the normal way out of the building, since jumping from the window seemed like it would attract more attention than it might avoid.
That was another thing: What if, when I left this realm, I continued having strange impulses to leap from the second-floor windows of buildings? The real-life impact of this twisted reality might be quite fatal… I could already imagine the headlines: “Woman jumps to her death after escaping Twisted God’s torture limbo!” or “Cape-wearing psycho wielding broom lands in traffic after jumping from balcony!”
Unmolested, I left the tavern, which, this early in the morning, only had a few sleepy patrons in it, most of whom seemed to be Husks. I passed by the market, where I bought a grilled sausage and a mug of beer from a food stand.
When I’d filled my belly, I sold Red Rian’s dagger to the same vendor who had bought the first. Since she still had the first one on display, I managed to barter for a higher price, by arguing they would sell for more as a set, and, as a result, I ended up selling the second Fang for twice that of the first. I suddenly realised that I wasn’t actually sure if the vendor was a real person or not.
Would it be rude to ask? I wondered, as I walked away.
Afterwards, I located Captain Tabian in a building that had once been a library, but now served as a jail, as well as a barracks for the few guards in the town. The coin purse he handed me was heavy, despite only holding ten coins. I wondered if the shiny coins were actually pure gold. Suddenly, I was flush with money, having nearly fifteen-and-a-half gold in my inventory.[2]
Satisfied, I left the building. Outside, I spotted a bounty board with an elaborate flyer attached to it. It read, “Test your mettle in the Tournament of Champions!”
No doubt about it, this had to be either the next or an upcoming Stage, since this was the first I’d heard of any tournament. Though there was the not-insignificant chance that I had simply been daft and not noticed the mention of it until now…
Below the title was information on where to sign up, a town to the east called Gothershall, as well as things such as entry fee and the possibility of finding a sponsor. It would cost a whopping twenty-five gold to enter, but the winner would earn back twice that amount, as well as special prizes, so not a bad deal.
However, I was still ten gold short. I guessed that the point of setting the entrance fee to such an exorbitant amount was to give people the chance to truly prepare. Locating a sponsor was probably my best chance of entering, unless I wanted to waste my time with trivial Errands for the locals in town. I really couldn’t imagine myself carrying apples to the market, finding lost pets, or whatever else such side-activities involved.
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The short trek from the village to the Old Church was as lonely as usual. I didn’t mind it too much, since being around all the people in the town made me paranoid and anxious for some reason. What a terrible thing. Even with the amnesia and being in this fantasy world, real world problems still had a way of sticking with you. Of course, if I died enough times even that would go away, unfortunately it also meant losing what shreds of my former personality still remained, so it was a double-edged sword. The thought of having no memories of the past was the scariest thing I could imagine right now.
I wondered if I had to fight other players in the tournament, and, if so, would I be matched up against Jakob? I hoped not. Maybe I could find someone who dealt with information trading, although I wasn’t sure if I could afford such an expenditure right now.
As I came over the top of the hill, the church popped into view, its swallowed-up courtyard just like I remembered, though Father Adam wasn’t astride any benches today.
Since the large doors to the church were shut tight, I crawled up a piece of broken wall and entered through the gaping hole in the side of the dilapidated ruin.
The interior of the church wasn’t what I’d expected at all. In place of long rows of benches before an altar, the inside hall was filled to the ceiling with monstrous bookcases carved from the same stone that the church itself was made of, dark-grey and menacing. Those of the bookcases that were nearest the hole were entirely empty of books, scrolls or any sort of parchment, and a few empty birds’ nests sat abandoned in the rows nearest the ceiling. Plants sprouted up through the stone floor, weeds grew from the side of the walls, and vines hung thickly between the solid stone bookcases. It was like Mother Nature was rapidly reclaiming what had once been stolen from Her.
Delving further into the pitch darkness of the interior, where the light of day could not reach, I found rows lined with old, dusty books, some so thick and unwieldy that I doubted my ability to even lift them. I walked out of the darkness and up towards where the altar would have been, but instead found many worm-eaten tables and chairs, perhaps once occupied by the scholars who no longer thronged the church’s halls. The windows here were tall, however, all but one had had its mosaic brilliance smashed to bits by either nature or the restless hands of vandals. The one remaining mosaic depicted a Monarch, surrounded by his closest friends and family. For some reason, a shining halo surrounded his finger upon which sat a royal ring. I wondered how long it had been since it’d been made.
What happened to the Royal family that once ruled over this region?
“Astounding craftsmanship, is it not?” inquired a strained, raspy voice.
“I found your missing map,” I replied, and turned to face the old Father. A few deft gestures later and I had the map in my hand.
A veiny, liver-spotted hand carefully grabbed the creased parchment paper by its edges and looked it over a few times. “I take it you dealt with the thief?” The care with which Father Adam held the map, suggested that it was very dear to him.
“His thieving days are over,” I said nonchalantly.[3]
“Good, good,” the old man replied absentmindedly. Then he turned and was about head back into the darkness from which he’d come.
“About the Alchemist…” I started.
“He’ll know that you’ve helped me.” Good. I needed to get started on learning alchemy, so I didn’t have to worry about suddenly bleeding out or something, if, Gods forbid it, I was ever badly hurt again.
Instead of leaving, Father Adam just stood there with his back turned to me for a while. Suddenly he turned to me again, his glossed-over milky eyes staring straight into mine. It kind of freaked me out a little bit, but that might also have been because of the yellow-and-brown-toothed smile he was flashing me.
“You wouldn’t happen to be interested in helping me with something else, would you? I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You haven’t even paid me for returning your map yet,” I said impatiently. I kind of felt like he was trying to pull a fast one on me…
“I’ll double your reward!” he suddenly exclaimed desperately. It almost sounded like some of the rasp in his voice was fading, and I could have sworn that for a moment his creamy-white eyes had a hint of blue to them.
I sighed. Hopefully he’d not try to exploit my kindness and yell something like, “I’ll triple your reward!” next time I returned from whatever errand he now had in mind. I mean, I didn’t even know what it was he was doubling. For all I knew he might pay me two coppers for my trouble.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” I then said despite my apprehensions.
“Excellent! There’s a key that I’m looking for.” He pulled a book out from within his robe. Its pages were damp from his body heat and sweat.
Gross…
I grabbed it between two fingers as if it could hurt me, and quickly stashed it in my inventory.
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‘Father Adam’s Book of Sermons’
-Quest Item-
“Given to you by Father Adam to be used as collateral in a bet against Alexander Tobias for his special key. Should you happen to lose, it is unlikely the Father will ever forgive you.”
Weight: N/A
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[1] Not that I’d made much use of it thus far…
[2] By “nearly”, I meant to say I had 15 gold and 45 silver coins, or, said in another way: 1,545 silver coins; or said in yet another, more annoying, way: 154,500 copper coins.
[3] Cliché, I know, but what can I say…