While Ashley eventually slept like a baby, Ethan barely caught a wink that night. Thoughts of Parallax's crimson eyes and Faye's cryptic words swirled in his mind. "You'll need to grow," she'd said, her tone carrying the air of maternal concern. "I've always wanted a mom" Ethan sheepishly remarked to himself.
Though he was reluctant to be anyone's "student," her warning about Parallax echoed in his mind as he lay staring at the ceiling of his small cozy room. "Being a teacher connotes that learning and unlearning things is part of the trade. Maybe being a student again isn't so bad."
This was even more nerve wracking then when he had his licensure exam. He recalled those times he got sponsorship to attend s review center yet he's mostly absent because he has different side hussles to barely support himself while job hunting. Those grueling working hours made him feel he was lagging behind. While his peers went to the review center to prepare for the licensure examinations for teachers, he was working hard.
Despite all that, he still managed to pass the exam on the first take though and with flying colors. Too bad he wasn't able to reach the top ten.
I wonder if it would've turned out differently if I really tried. No use crying over spilt milk now. Perhaps this time around, I can do better...
To him it wasn't such a big deal. He never even posted about it on social media, not that anyone would actually celebrate with him.
As the morning light caressed his cheeks, trickling in through the thin window, a faint shimmer pulsed from his adventurer's ring. He waved his hand instinctively as a spectral blank slate appeared before him. The word's Tabula Rasa inscribed unceremoniously in the middle.
"John Locke, does that mean I'm a blank slate? But then again what purpose does this spectral slate serve? Perhaps…"
Knowing the theory behind the Tabula Rasa, Ethan made the connection of it being a status screen. Children are born as blank slates after all, their personalities, attitudes, and tendencies are sculpted by the world around them. "But, as Ashley says and I quote, I am not a kid," which stands to reason that he may already have his stats, the only obstacle remaining is to invoke it…
After a brief contemplation, he finally uttered the words "Know thyself…" Ethan recited a line from Sun Tzu's Art of War. Faye mentioned this phrase last night, almost in jest, but something about it struck a chord.
As if on cue, the spectral slate seemed to warp slightly, transforming itself into a transparent panel which materialized before his eyes- revealing his status screen:
----
[ Adventurer Profile ]
Name: Ethan Erstellen
Lexical Reservoir: 100
Affiliation: Adventurer's Guild
Rank: Apprentice
Class: Quillmancer
Level: 1
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[ Core Attributes ]
Health: 86 / 100
STR: 8
CON: 25
INT: 56
DEX: 10
WIS: 18
CHA: 31
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[ Four Macro Skills ]
Reading: Master
Speaking: Competent
Writing: Wordsmith
Listening: Advanced
-----
[Abilities]
{Please Upgrade Your Adventurer Ring to Reveal more information}
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He felt ecstatic and a tinge of weightlessness. He felt the burdens of adulting being lifted while healing his inner child. After all, his status screen wasn't merely stats—it was the affirmation that he'd become part of this world.
"Makes me wonder, how are my teammates in our old DnD adventuring party? They're probably married by now," Ethan muses to himself as recalled each member of their happy faces and the fun encounters they had. "We even met a beholder at level 1 and got a TPK. Ah… good times."
He reckoned the time all of them complained at their DM friend who gave them an impossible encounter just because his wife wanted him to go home. It felt unfair at the time, but Ethan wonders if he'd act differently if he knew what's it like to be married.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Ethan blinked, barely having time to take it all in before a second screen appeared, describing a Spatial Inventory and the options he had to expand it by upgrading his adventurer's ring.
----
[Spatial Invertory] Capacity: 1/12 [Upgradable]
1.
2.
3...
...9. Old Parchment
10.
11.
12.
----
In one of the inventory slots, he noticed an old parchment that pulsed with a familiar shade of blue. Tapping it mentally, he was startled when it revealed the author's note, scribbled in messy, almost frantic handwriting. The words had an unsettling familiarity.
"Welcome, Ethan," the note read, as if the writer had known him for a long time. "I lost control over everything. I know it may be a daunting task but perhaps… you can fix what I couldn't. Save it, or destroy it, I… Take the wheel Ethan. I'm leaving it up to you."
He felt the weight of the words as they sank in. Fix what I couldn't? The screen vanished, and he sat on the edge of his bed, his mind racing. Whoever had written that note had left this world's fate in his irresponsible hands.
"Such responsibility being pushed on me, when I can't even finish my Masters' Degree Thesis? What does the author even see in me? Why does it have to be ME?!"
Everything was going well, he thought he has finally escaped his duties and yet another imposing task lies before him.
A sudden knock on the door disturb him out of his stupor-like trance. "Professor?"
Opening the door Ethan remarks, "You really have bad timing."
"Do I now?" Ashley smiles knowingly, hands him the apparels she bought to avoid standing out in a setting that contrasts them. The also made it a point to include several other useful items packed neatly in what looked like a waterproofed leather travelling bag. Using the money given to them by their enigmatic yet unsolicitated mentor, Ashley bought the following things:
1. A bedroll for outdoor camping
2. A tinderbox
3. A waterskin
4. A 50ft. rope
5. A pocket knife
6. A mess kit
7. A change of clothes
8. A healing salve
"So... you're putting your girls' scout knowledge into this," Ethan said.
"There's a lot of tools we can't afford, I did the most I can with the few silvers we had," Ashley replied.
"We should... Probably take on quests again."
"Let's hope it's not another beholder this time..."
Ethan and Ashley locked eyes until one of them bursts out laughing.
"Yeah, that amount of danger is borderline hilarious. Who puts a beholder at the start of the campaign?" Ethan chuckled.
"You seem distressed earlier, are the nightmares back again? I could still remember those times you would drift to sleep in the office- occasionally hitting your warm coffee," she continued.
"Be discreet about it."
"I had to reprint your documents that time because you were in a frantic rush to meet deadlines, that spilt coffee was a plot twist for the worse", Ashley retorts. "What would you do without me?"
"I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, thanks." Ethan responds.
"Whatever helps you sleep the night Mr. Responsible" Ashley and Ethan exchanged a few banters before getting to discuss the Status Screen and Spatial Inventory until finally moving to a more serious topic- the Beholder from the previous night.
"So... Parallax," Ashley said softly. "He called this an 'authorless' world. What do you think he meant?"
Ethan's jaw tightened. Sighing heavily, "I think... I think he might be right. Whoever created this world is gone. And somehow, we've been made responsible for whatever happens next." He then passes her the old parchment from his inventory.
Ashley let's out a curtly giggle "Pfft! We? You meant just YOU right?"
"What would I do without you?" Ethan replies casually.
Ashley's pupils dilated while her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, equally annoyed by his audacity and charmed by the implication of that statement.
Ethan replied, feeling the weight of the revelation settling in, "But... I think we're here for a reason. This world isn't finished, a plot yet to be completed. Perhaps the author's connection has been severed, perhaps a tragic event transpired to make him..."
His voice trailed off as his mind returned to the note on the old parchment bearing uncanny resemblance to his erratic penmanship. Fix what I couldn't.
Ashley looked at him, brows furrowing. "That's... heavy. But hey, we have a powerful elf who just decided to take us on as students, right? Plus, you have a reliable assistant by your side." She punched him lightly on the arm, and he couldn't help but smile.
"We really don't know much about this mentor or what her agenda really is. One thing I'm certain of, growing stronger individually always pay dividends in the end. We better gear up and start taking more quests."
A doubt still lingers in the corner of his mind, like a stalking monster waiting to pounce on Ethan's shaking confidence. Is he being too reliant again? Will she leave him too? Something needs to change. HE needed to change. For now at the very least, with Ashley around, Ethan felt less alone.