The next day passed in much the same way as I traveled slowly across the forest towards the large plain that hosted the city of my birth. Stopping at every resource indicator and harvesting all sorts of plants. My pack had begun to fill by the end and I hoped to visit a shop or alchemist guild location to sell or trade some of my goods.
It was towards the end of the day, based on the light filtering down from the canopy when I heard shouting from ahead beyond line of sight. I was in a newer section of the forest, the old, massive trees and sparse underbrush had given way to younger and smaller trees that did not fully block the light at the ground, allowing for abundant growth. Slowing my pace and straining my ears for danger I continued towards the shouting.
“Aye aye just a little bit more there, right at the base, shes ready to fall she is.” I could just barely make out the words before I came across the sight of a large man with an axe felling one of the trees. Hesitating before coming any closer, I waited to listen to the conversation.
“You know what would make this faster? You getting up and helping you old fool.” Said the man wielding the axe. He was young and looked absolutely massive, the axe looking like a small knife against his frame. He would have dwarfed Brutus.
“Aye aye I could yeah.” Said a much older looking man I could now see sitting on the trunk of a former tree. There were multiple large trees down around the area the two men were working in.
“This’ll be the last one then. Careg only ordered the four of them. Time for us to be getting home.” The man sitting down said.
Steadying my nerve, I approached the clearing slowly not wanting to spook the two men.
“Come on out then, we already seen ya.” Said the old man again. He looked directly where I was trying to move discreetly.
“Uh. Hello?” I stammered out. It had been so long since I had spoken to another human, unless you counted the murderous crucian.
“Who will you be then?” Said the young man.
“My name is uh Syl” I said, thinking at the last minute to avoid having the name at the top of the leaderboard.
“Well Syl, walking up on a man and his pops working out in the woods is real suspicious. You wouldn’t have any bad intentions now would ya?” He asked, eyeing me. He held the axe in front of his massive chest in a menacing sort of way.
“I was just uh, I was just heading out towards the plain. I'm lost and trying to find my way to Etes.” I responded. Story falling apart under the pressure I suddenly felt from the two men. I triggered Identify on the younger man.
Walker - Human - Level 7
“Hey now!” The young man shouted with a start towards me. “Mighty damn rude of you to just Identify someone without even asking.” His face had turned red and he was clearly angry. “You just watch your step. I know how to use this axe.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry it's just a habit.” I held up my hands in the universal sign of peace. I had forgotten about my negative charisma score already. I had never known if someone would be able to tell that I used Identify on them, that was answered quickly. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to make it out of the forest.”
“Simmer down Jaxon. He’s a kid, he didn’t mean anything by it.” The older man came to my rescue. “My name is Walker and I live nearby in a town called Burch. This here is my son Jaxon. “ He paused for a second. “I’m just gonna use my skill on you now Syl, ok? It’s just like yours.”
I shrugged and nodded yes. I felt a cold sensation like a chill from the wind passing over me. It was good to know that I would also be able to tell when someone used a skill like Identify on me.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Jaxon, come stand by me boy.” The old man's tone had changed significantly. I heard him whisper to his son. “I can’t read his level, he's strong, don’t underestimate him. We need to get back to the walls and tell the guards. He might be one of the Norx.” The old man turned to me warily and said, “We don’t want any trouble either. Please just leave us alone and we’ll be on our way.”
Why was he so scared? He didn’t think I could hear him whisper, it must be tied to my increased attributes. The old man couldn’t read my level because it was higher than his. Momentary anger swelled up at the mention of being a Norx, it must have been obvious from my face.
“Now now please don’t do anything we all might regret. I can see your strong but we both know how to tumble. Just let us go peacefully and we won’t tell the guards.” The old man said walking backwards with his hand on his sons shoulder, pulling him with him.
Frustration was close to bubbling over and take hold of my emotions. This was not how I wanted my first interaction with other people to go. “Listen to me, I promise I don’t mean any harm. I could use a town to purchase some supplies and trade some of what I have.” I tried to plead with the two loggers from Burch.
“Best if you just move on ok? We don’t need any more violence in Burch.” The old man said with finality. Leaving the clearing with his son in tow.
I sat down on the stump in despair. If this was how bad the negative charisma caused people to react, how could I better prepare for future meetings? This one had nearly been a disaster. One wrong act or move would have started a fight I wanted no part of. I desperately needed a way to raise my charisma.
Zooming out on my map there was a new icon that looked like a wooden house. This would be the marker for a town then. The two loggers talking about Burch must have been enough to register for my natural explorer skill to add it to the map. It was west a mile or two from my location and north by another mile or so. Exact distances were difficult to grasp on the map at my current level. Future improvements would hopefully bring more clarity.
Deciding to risk it, I headed in the direction of Burch, giving the two loggers plenty of a head start. Turning north to skirt around the north side of the town, I continued to explore the forest. I saw many beasts and animals roaming around in contrast to the few usually hanging around the mine. It had to be due to the abundant growth of brush and foliage in this area compared to the sparse vegetation found deeper in the forest where the trees blocked most of the available sunlight. Most kept their distance, only a few wandered close enough to trigger Identify, which I used whenever I could.
Eter Buck - Level 2
I triggered Identify as a small group of the bucks ran across in front of me. I must have startled them walking. I was starting to notice that regular animals that had existed in Eter before the framework and remained unchanged were not referred to as beasts. Animals that had not existed before the framework or that had changed were referred to as either beasts or intelligent beasts. There was a pattern behind it all I was sure, even if I didn’t know it. Identify ticked up to level 11.
The sun was just starting to set and the light fade as I rounded a thicket of trees and came across a view of the town of Burch. It was set about half a mile from the edge of the forest on the great plain. Surrounded by a wall of wood with a gate guarding the only opening I could see from this viewpoint. Approaching at night would likely raise suspicion so I started looking for a spot to camp out and try my hand in the morning.
Finding a comfortable spot up in a tree near the edge of the forest but far enough in to hide from unfriendly eyes, I settled in for the night. Notifications had been building up during the day but my normal routine was to now check them at night unless I thought they were specific to me.
Warning! Skill decay imminent!
Skill decay? What now I wondered. I looked in my guide and found a new entry for skill decay and read the description. Apparently skill decay occurred if more than 10 days went by without using a skill. There would be no peace in the framework world it seemed.
Weighing using remote detonation on a simple bomb just to satisfy the bloodthirsty system I decided against it. I was too close to Burch to risk it, and to be honest, I didn’t mind losing those particular skills. Instead of feeling powerful, I felt trapped. The bombs came with such a heavy risk that the mental toll of using them outweighed the rewards.
These thoughts rolled around in my head as I strapped my pack to a tree branch and settled in for the night. Checking on the falcon egg revealed it was still nestled in amongst the blankets, no response to my beast companion skill. I knew I would likely wake before dawn, my plan was to enter the town after the two loggers had left for the day, delaying our next meeting until I could earn some good will in the town.
I snapped awake some time later, unaware of what had woken me. It was pitch black in the forest from the angle I had facing away from Burch. I steadied my breathing and listened for the threat, arms inching towards my bow. I heard a loud roar that reminded me of the cave bears and a thundering crash, followed shortly by human screams of pain and terror. It seemed my plan of waiting to enter the town during the day would be put to the test.