Minutes passed by, and Lee slowly started to accept his new Healer's Touch ability. Trying to get rid of all the “What if’s” in his head, Lee decided to try to think of the positives. He could now heal and save others, including himself, from injuries and illness. Something Lee would never have been able to do in the past was now freely his to use at what seemed to be no cost. His thoughts instantly went to the help he could give people with cancer or other illnesses---Doomed to die at no fault of their own.
Slowly, Lee stood as he decided what to do with this new power. He glanced at his last ability.
Ability Name: Hidden Cache
Ability Description: The Hidden Cache ability allows the user to access a hidden pocket dimension or storage space where they can store items and equipment. Unable to be accessed by others.
Current Space - 1x1x1 Feet. Scales with Level.
“How convenient, but maybe too convenient.” He started questioning these abilities' legitimacy, pondering how they fit into his current situation.
So I am on what seems to be another world, with some sort of game-like screen, magically healed by what I assume to be my own ability, Healer’s Touch. Which I somehow happen to have, and I can also understand all languages and writing, along with a skill that helps me store items and the things I find? Too convenient. I don’t believe this was just a chance.
Done with investigating the bush, he needed a distraction to escape his thoughts on his abilities. He began to get ready to follow the river some more, but slowly, he realized the sounds of the birds and insects were gone, and the stillness of his surroundings jerked him to attention.
Slowly glancing left and right, he discovered nothing out of the ordinary. Something is wrong. Lee didn't know what, but something was definitely wrong. Maybe this was his wisdom coming into play. He glanced up after looking all around, still not having found anything unusual. When he did, he found himself staring directly into the piercing green eyes of a person perched upon a tree branch, aiming a bow directly at him.
Instantly covered in a cold sweat and beginning to panic, Lee slowly brought himself toward the ground. He raised his hands behind his head and fell onto his knees. The person in the tree whistled a high note, and soon after, Lee heard another figure approaching from behind him. Beginning to fear for his safety, Lee began to speak out.
“I am lost; I have nothing,” he mumbled out. The figure in the tree said nothing in return, and the figure approaching from behind had arrived. The person behind him slowly placed their hands all over Lee in what appeared to be some kind of frisking, searching for weapons or anything to harm them. Finding nothing, the person whistled a note back to the figure in the tree. Slowly, they released the tension on their bowstring and stored the formerly knocked arrow, slinging the bow onto their back. They began their descent from the tree.
Slowly, the figure came closer. They were much different than what Lee initially thought he would see. Lee was looking at what appeared to be an Elf in his mid-20s. He knew of elves, so this elf may have been way older than he actually appeared. These elves are different from what Lee usually imagined elves to look like. The elf had slightly dark grayish skin, platinum-colored hair, and piercing green eyes. He wore dark leather armor with adjustable straps, a shortsword, a bow, and a quiver, all fitting seamlessly onto his lithe frame. Standing around six and a half feet tall, the elf was oddly beautiful and handsome at the same time. At least he had familiar long ears associated with typical elves.
He looked over at Lee with what seemed to be a mix of confusion and apprehension. Looking toward his ally behind Lee, he began to speak. “A human?”
In response, a slightly higher-pitched, feminine voice replied. “I am sure. I identified him. From what I know of them, he fits their description, but this one seems unwell. Unarmored, weaponless, and somehow level one. He couldn’t arrive or survive here by himself in this condition.”
Lee decided to try to get a word in. Hoping that he could at least talk his way out of the situation. “I am lost; I don’t know where I am or how I got here.”
Instantly, Lee felt both of their gazes lock onto him, and the male tensed slightly. “You speak our tongue?” The male elf asked.
Their tongue? I was speaking English. He quickly came to the realization that his Language Comprehension ability might have had something to do with the confusion.
Lee replied.“I have an ability that lets me speak and understand all languages.”
Slowly, the male relaxed and asked, “Who are you, and what do you last remember before arriving in our forest?”
Unsure whether or not he actually had the option to refuse any questions, he answered. “My name is Lee Barnes, the last thing I remember was… dying.”
Silence descended for a few moments as the male elf glared into Lee very being. His fierce features grew even more confused as time passed. “He tells the truth.” The male elf replied, glancing up to look behind Lee.
After another moment of silence, the feminine voice questioned from behind him. “To Elder Sono?”
“To Elder Sono.” the male elf said sullenly.
Looking back toward Lee, the male elf asked. “Do you mean harm to us or elves as a whole?”
“No,” came Lee’s instant reply.
Nodding, he gestured for Lee to stand. Now standing, Lee felt a little calmer. He glanced behind him and now saw the female elf. She stood around 6’2, and was one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen. The female elf, who appeared to be in her early 30s, had dark gray skin, platinum hair done in a long single braid down her back, and piercing green eyes that faintly glowed. The same dark leather armor and ears as the male, but instead of a bow, she had two long, curved, sickle-like swords. The swords seemed to have emeralds embedded into their hilts, and the blades were made of a silvery metal. The blades themselves had depictions of animals and foliage all along the hilt.
“My name is Ruven; we will take you to Elder Sono, the leader of our small settlement; you may gain additional information later once we are sure you are not a threat,” Ruven explained.
“My name is Neia.” The female elf said as she began to trek forward into the forest.
Ruven gestured for Lee to walk ahead of him, but behind Neia. “You will be in the middle. No sudden moves.”
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Understanding the intent, Lee followed after Neia, trying his best to keep what modesty he had left in this hospital gown.
The pace Neia had set was fast, way faster than Lee could comfortably travel. After about half an hour, Neia stopped, turned back to look at Lee, and saw his shambling form. “What is wrong?” she asked, both confused and concerned.
“You are moving too fast. I have never traveled in a forest.” Lee said.
Confused, Neia glanced at Ruven and said, “Your dexterity should help you with movement.”
“My dexterity is eight,” Lee responded curtly.
Surprised, Neia raised an eyebrow. “8? What are humans born with as an average?”
“I don’t know. This whole status screen thing is new to me.” Lee said while finally catching up fully to Neia.
Ruven quickly cut into the conversation. “New to you? What do you mean new to you?”
Lee looked at Ruven. “Exactly what I said; it’s new to me. I never had it until a few hours ago.”
Ruven and Neia looked at each other with faces full of utter disbelief. Slowly, Ruven looked Lee up and down like he was viewing some sort of foreign animal. “How have you never had a status screen? How did you know what skills you had?”
Lee, feeling that as long as he answered, this break in the trek would continue, said. “We didn’t have any skills, abilities, or spells. Our stats were not listed in numbers like they are here.”
Much to Lee's dismay, Neia began sauntering forward to continue their journey. “What about the monsters and animals? How did you gain strength to fight them?”
Now alarmed, Lee looked at Neia’s back and let that small nugget of information sink in. Monsters? Like vampires, goblins, and zombies? What the fuck kind of world is this? “What do you mean monsters? We didn’t have any monsters. The only kind of monsters we had were the Humankind. Like murderers and whatnot. What kind of monsters are you talking about?”
Neia, after seemingly thinking about the question a bit, replied, “Around here, we have mainly Goblins or Owlbears and the occasional Troll or Giant. Those kinds of things. You never had any of those?”
“No, we did not have any of those!" Lee exclaimed. "We had some stories about them, though. Just so we understand each other correctly, goblins are like small green humanoids greedy for treasure and stuff?” Lee asks.
Neia scoffed and flipped her hand back and forth, “If you put it nicely like that and leave out the pillaging, child snatching, murdering, and rape. Then yes, those goblins.”
Taken aback by the casualness of Neia's reply, Lee continued asking questions. “How often do you encounter monsters? How strong are they?”
Ruven seemed to notice the slight amount of fear settling into Lee’s tone and answered ahead of Neia. Attempting to reassure Lee of the dangers of the forest, Ruven said. “It depends on where you are and what type of monster, but in the wild, you could run across monsters at any given time, usually one or two times a day. Depending on which monster and their levels. It depends on how strong they are. Goblins, for example, are pretty weak in general. They often lack magic and use crude weapons. With their low intellect, they rely on numbers to swarm or stealth to sneak. A Giant, though? Powerful. It would take a handful of hunters a long time to bring one down. You only run into those a few times every year, and even then, they usually aren’t a threat unless they are too close to the settlement.” Thinking himself successful, he looked toward Lee and quickly saw that he had failed to reassure him of the danger.
What the fuck? Once or twice a day? Trying to calm down and not outright panic, Lee continued asking questions while following Neia at the newer, more comfortable, but still speedy pace. “How long will it take to arrive at your settlement?” I hope the answer is “Only 5 minutes away.”
“Only a few days away at this pace,” Ruven replied while scanning his surroundings.
Fuck. It seems I'm 100% going to have to see some monsters up close and personal. More anxious now and scanning the surroundings, Lee continues following Neia while thinking through his current situation. At least these elves did not immediately kill me on sight. Wait… I'm talking to some fucking elves!
After quickly realizing his massive oversight, he began trying to establish some small talk with Neia and Ruven. ”Elves don’t exist where I am from either, there are some stories with them kinda like the monsters, but they depicted you slightly differently.”
Slightly curious but still watching out for threats, Ruven said. “What kind of stories and what have you heard about us?”
Lee told them about the standard fantasy elves he had heard about. “Well, they love nature and live for a long time, hundreds of years; they are very good at archery and are known for their grace and beauty.” Now slightly embarrassed that he had just called them graceful and beautiful, he tried to add more details quickly. “But the elves I've heard about are usually blonde, with fair skin, and I also don’t remember them being so tall.”
Neia nodded while searching for the most comfortable path through the forest. “You are talking about Wood Elves. We are Dark Elves. There is not just one type of elf.”
Ruven adds in with “Grace and beauty?” Smirking at Lee.
Embarrassed now, he decided to go all in. “Yes, graceful, elegant, and beautiful, at least compared to us humans. Have you never met any humans?”
Ruven, slightly disappointed that his teasing didn't last, replied, “No, we have not. Some of us in the settlement have, but that was long ago. We have, of course, heard of the races in the world. Humans, dwarves, beastkin, and their like, but we don't tend to leave the forest or underground.”
“Underground?” asked Lee.
“Yes, underground; we Dark Elves don’t tend to like sunlight. Garbola trees block out most of the sun with their canopies, so it is fairly comfortable here in the forest.”
Garbola trees? Quickly trying to identify one of the giant trees.
Garbola Tree (Rare): This tree is no ordinary tree, this tree is a titan of the forests. Old and mighty, Garbola trees act as shelter for many plants and animals. This tree passively accumulates mana from the environment.
I should really use this skill more. “So, what are the odds I'm going to have to fight a monster?”
Both Neia and Ruven replied immediately with “One hundred percent.”
Neia looked back again to check that her pace was still comfortable for Lee and finally saw his fear. Feeling pity for the human, she tried to comfort him. “It won’t be today, but you will. Everybody does; it’s the way of the world. You will likely just watch me and Ruven deal with the threats, or we will try to avoid them entirely during our trip.”
Lee then realized that a lot of the hostility between them had disappeared. “So, am I like a prisoner or something?”
Ruven looked at Neia, and she glanced back at him. She shrugged. “No, you are not. You are not a threat; you seem to be unfortunate.”
Lee was slightly surprised at the sudden change from being held at bow-point. Wow, that sounds weird. To the semi-friendly conversations. “How do you know?”
Ruven bluntly replied, “Ability,” seemingly not wanting to get into details.
Lee decided that he should probably get some basic information about this place and his status while he had the opportunity. “Can you tell me about some of the specifics about the status screen? Like, how do you gain XP and the difference between skill, spells, and abilities?”
Neia responds in a lecturing tone; probably one used specifically for the elven children. “You may be granted XP or Experience Points from slaying beasts, doing your profession, or completing class quests. The difference between skills, spells, and abilities are as follows. Skills are learned through doing or granted by your profession or class. Take, for example, the skill Identify, one of the most common skills. Obtained by wanting more information or simply inspecting an object thoroughly.” She looked back to make sure Lee was paying attention before she continued. “Spells are gained through specific classes, studying a spell book or scroll, creating your own unique spell, or granted by a god or goddess by receiving their blessings. All spells use mana, but not all skills use mana.”
She ducked under a branch, finding a decent-sized clearing. It was filled with purple, orange, and red fallen leaves, which crunched softly underneath the feet. It was large, about 30x30 ft, which revealed the sky through the semi-open canopy. The sky was dimming as night approached. Neia decided that this was a good place to stop. “Abilities are simply what someone was born with; it is not polite to ask about any skill, spell, or ability someone has casually. We will camp here for the night.”
Lee thanked this world's apparent god and goddesses as he sat down to rest on a fallen log. He then thought about everything he had just been told.
Born with it? I was most definitely not born with any of my abilities. Something is definitely not right.
As Neia began gathering wood for a fire, Ruven walked up to Lee and tossed a small sack toward him. “I hope you understand why we are cautious of you.”
Nodding, Lee replies, “Of course. Did I hope I would be warmly welcomed with open arms? Definitely, but in your view, I'm a race you’ve never seen before and someone who shouldn’t be here. Considering how I am dressed and everything, I think this has gone pretty well.” ending while chuckling lightly.