The next day I pay a little more attention to the landscape, it is the first time that I have been so far from the town. There are only plains, hills, and valleys adorned by a few trees and shrubs in sight. From time to time, we can see in the distance small villages made up of a dozen houses, more or less, but nothing the size of Crossroad's Town.

During the trip, Joaquín tells me many other things about the labyrinths. I am determined to learn as much as I can from them, as they are the cause of the end of the life I knew. I learned that they have different floors and that so far only the 79th floor has been reached.

I need to learn how to fight, if I climb the floors I am sure I will be able to find something that explains where the labyrinths come from and thus I will discover why my parents had to die. Also, if I could have as much strength as that dragon I saw, for example, I could have saved my parents instead of lying on the ground unconscious. I don't want to be in this situation again, I want to be able to protect what is precious to me.

The problem is obvious, I have nothing except the clothes I'm wearing and I can't think of how I'm going to live without anything in a city I don't know. No, that's not true... I still have what I was born with for extraordinary reasons, I am supposed to have access to the two remaining 'benefits' when I turn 13 years old. With everything that happened, I forgot to look at the [menu], I unfold it and I see that nothing has changed, the rest of the options are still blocked. With a frown, I look and unfold the only available option [notifications]. When it is unfolding a new message appears.

Accelerated Balanced Growth: Up to 3 eligible classes earn experience equally regardless of the action taken that grants the experience (experience is not split between them).

User interface: allows the visualization of the user's classes, statistics and equipment. Provides access to a basic map and inventory. It allows to easily visualize and use the skills learned by the user. Note: some of these functions can be customized from the [configuration] tab.

Inspection: Minimal inspection of objects and creature information.

Pressing 'confirm' will unlock these benefits.

[Confirm]>

Reading the message, I understood the reason why I had not seen any change yet.

Nice!!! This is definitely going to help; the priority is to find a place to stay and a way to get money to buy food and clothes. Once those two things are assured, I will be able to think about the labyrinths again.

**********

Night falls. We stop the march and eat a little, without fire, since yesterday we ran out of wood.

"Tonight, I need you to do a few hours of guard, there are usually no bandits or beasts on the road that connects the Crossroad's town with the capital, since it is a very important route for the kingdom, but it is better to be cautious anyway. Yesterday I did not want to bother considering all the things you are going through... But I haven't slept for two days and I need to rest for a few hours. Wake me up when you want to change. "

"Ok, no problem, I still have nightmares when I sleep."

"It's normal, time is the only remedy, or so they say .... Good evening"

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It suits me well. I can take this moment to test and experiment with the user interface. I did not want to do it along the way because of fear, since I don't know what might happen in front of Joaquín.

Ok let's start with [status]. An image is displayed that says:

[none]

[Spirit]

[Fire (minor)]

Strength 13

Constitution 13

Agility 13

Intelligence 13

Will 13

<0 stat points available>

Looks like I'll have to wait to get combat classes… I can't do anything in this section at the moment.

Now it's time to check [inventory]. When thinking about the option, two images appear, a silhouette of a person on the left and a rectangular image on the right, which is shaded, with the exception of six squares.

hmm, if this option works as the name suggests, it should be some storage class. I look for a nearby rock and try to save it with my thoughts ... it works!!! This means that I can take up to six objects with me without worrying about how to transport them. Now let's see what I can do with the silhouette. But no matter how hard I try, nothing happens.

I guess it must be related to the image on the right. I try to drag the rock toward the silhouette, but it stops halfway. Maybe you can only drag things that you can wear. I take off my boots and put them in inventory. From there I try to drag them and… this time, I can do it without problems. Upon reaching the silhouette, the boots move to the bottom of it and a message appears above them that says [equipped]. At the same time the boots appear wrapping my feet.

I could equip all my clothes like this for more comfort when undressing, but I guess it's not worth it, since I try to take my boots off normally but I discover that I can't. I have to unequip them from the inventory. It could be problematic if I had to take off a piece of clothing in front of people, as it would reveal my skill and I don't think it's good for me if it comes out.

The [skills] option is a shaded image divided into two sections, in which two skills appear. The first one is and it is in the left section named [Active Skills]. And the second one it's in the right section named [Passive Skills]. When I focus on the first, I see its description [Allow the user to see basic information of creatures and objects], while in the description of the second I see that it says the same as in the notification message, but there are also three empty squares at the end to choose the affected classes.

The passive abilities I suppose are continuously activated, but this ability to inspect .... I try to use it with the rock in inventory and a square image comes out with the information [small rock]. Hmm, it's really basic information I suppose. I try to use it on Joaquín and I see in a square image over his head [Joaquín, Warrior]. It seems that it does not affect the objective in any way, the question is: can other people see the boxes? When I wake up Joaquín to stand guard I'm going to use the ability. If I see that he notices something, I can use his being half asleep as an excuse.

The [map] option is simple to understand. A map is simply displayed in my field of vision, on which I can zoom in and out areas at will, allowing me to see smaller or larger areas. Most of it is shaded, while a small area is detailed. I guess they are the explored and unexplored areas of the world.

Only the last option [configuration] remains, I unfold it and an image with several sections appears.

< Enable Simplified status>

< Enable Mini map>

< Enable Loot automatically>

It seems that they can be activated to customize the user interface. The first two add images continuously in my field of vision. shows me my health, mana and stamina in the upper left corner of my vision; while displays a map of the surrounding area in the upper right corner. When I focus on the third option a description jumps [Send the loot obtained from the combats directly to the inventory] and in the fourth the message says [Show incoming notifications in the field of vision for 3 seconds]

Hmm, I've already inspected all the options. It has been some time since I started the experiments and I feel tired now that I have nothing left to prove. Time to wake up Joaquín and test if he senses something when I inspect him.

I approach him and shake him slightly. "Joaquín, I think I'm going to fall asleep. Can you stand guard for a while please? I will try to get some sleep"

"Hmmm okay."

I settle down to sleep and while doing it I use [Inspect] on Joaquin once more, but he doesn't react. It seems that the others do not see the square images. I can sleep well tonight, without nightmares, probably due to exhaustion.