Chapter 2

Niall rolled to his side and brushed off the early morning dew. He could feel the soft warmth of the rising sun on his face but his eyes stayed shut in tired protest. A savory smoke wafted into his nose. Is that bacon?

Niall rolled towards the smell and opened his eyes to find a small man bent over his fire with a skillet. They made eye contact. “Oi, good morning,” the man said with jolly surprise, “I thought you’d never wake up. Coffee ready over there just finishing up the bacon. Crispy, eh?”

“Ah, yeah… crispy?” Niall mumbled. “Sorry, who are you?”

The man took the skillet off the fire and set it on a thick pad of cloth. “My friends call me Gus. I was just taking the road over there,” he said pointing in the distance, “and I saw your camp and thought I’d share this fine morning with a fellow traveler.” Gus wiped a hand on his pants then poured coffee into a clean mug from a French Press like contraption. He handed the cup to Niall. “Sorry, I don't have any cream.”

“Thank you, It's ok I started drinking it black forty years ago,” Niall said.

“Forty years ago eh?” Gus said with an eyebrow raised.

Niall panicked, did this guy not come from Earth? “Agh, yeah…” Niall stammer.

Gus laughed, “I’m just joking with you, is it your first day?” He snatched a piece of bacon from the skillet and began to munch on it.

“Yeah, eh no second really, I woke up here yesterday morning or afternoon… I’m still getting used to the time, to be honest,” Niall answered. “My name’s Niall by the way.”

“What class did you pick?”

“Um, I haven’t yet… I’m not really sure how or what any of this is.”

“Oi, get your book quick. You don’t want to end up with something boring like a farmer, now.”

Book? Niall wondered, then remembered the little empty book that came in his chest. He went to his pack and pulled it out. “I’ve already looked in here but all the pages are empty.”

Gus shhhed him. “Now listen and follow my instructions, you may not have much time left. Whatcha do before?”

“Before?” Niall said dumbly then realized what Gus meant. “I was an architect but I had a little farm as well.”

“Now look at the book and think about working, things you’d do or liked to do. This will get easier after the first time, trust me.”

Niall stared at the book and thought hard of his old job. He’d been retired for 14 years and he could barely remember what his desk had looked like. He tried hard but nothing would appear on the pages. His thoughts moved to his hobby farm. Drafting the plans for Patty’s horse stables and actually building the thing. Strokes began to swirl around on the page but they were indecipherable. He thought more of his farm. He saw his dog, Spot, and his heart ached slightly. He thought of how excited he was to start the spring seeding. The lines solidified until a picture of a barn and rows of corn appeared. At the bottom of the page was the single word “Farmer”.

“It says farmer,” Niall said.

“Keep thinking,” Gus urged, “no one wants to be a farmer, be specific, you want to find something unique to you.”

Niall thought of his animals. He started out with chicken and built up to a flock of a hundred birds. Every sunday he’d pick a bird to roast for dinner. He never enjoyed killing the birds but they were so tasty. He’d make a stock from the leftover bones and Patty would make a soup that would last them the next two or three days. Patty always had her horses, but after the chickens Niall moved on to cows. He kept two dairy cows, sisters, Rose and Tulip. Niall could only tell them apart because Tulip’s tail was shorter than Rose’s. He’d keep a gallon of milk a week for himself then sell or give away the rest, same with any eggs from the chickens. Every once and a while he’d save extra milk to make cheese and butter. Next came goats, a couple sheep, and finally a donkey to protect the lot from any coyotes.

After a few years, the only things Patty and Niall had to go to the store for were coffee, sugar, and oil. And the occasional bottle of wine. He tried growing grapes but three years straight of sour cabernet made him give up.

Niall looked down at his book realizing he had been completely ignoring the pages. The drawing was similar to the previous farmer drawing but more detailed. There was a farmhouse, a barn, multiple fields of different vegetables, a garden, and animals running around. At the bottom of the page was now printed “Homesteader”.

“It says homesteader,” Niall said.

“Interesting,” Gus replied. “Not exactly a new class, but it's not the most common. A jack-of-all trades class but obviously still specialized. Moldable, some would say. Have you thought of everything?”

“I think so, how do I pick it?” Niall asked.

“Think it!”

Niall imagined himself in the picture and then the black lines quickly turned to gold as if etching themselves into the book. The book flipped to the first page on its own and Niall read.

Niall Roth- Level 1 (0 of 100xp)

Class: Homesteader

“What just happened?” Niall asked? “What is this thing?”

“It's your Book,” Gus answered. “This world is very similar to the old one, with just some tiny changes.”

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“Levels and classes are tiny changes?”

“You’ll find out in time,” Gus laughed.

“Do you mind explaining a little more for me, Gus? This is starting to feel like a dream, like a fantasy.”

“It's real, Niall, it's real alright.” Gus picked up another piece of bacon, grease dripped off his short beard. “It's simple really. Look back at your book.”

Niall followed his instructions.

“Now think, skills,” Gus said, flexing his fingers for effect.

Niall did as he said and the page turned. A single word appeared atop the otherwise blank page, “Skills”.

“It's blank,” Niall said unimpressed.

“That's because you don't have any yet,” Gus snorted.

“How do I get them?”

“Do stuff,” Gus shrugged.

“You’re not very helpful,” Niall said.

“Now that’s hurtful,” Gus cried. “You’re too serious, you need to relax some. Everything is much simpler than you’re probably thinking they are. But since you’re impatient I’ll take all the fun of discovery out of it for you. First, why don’t you relax, sit down, sip your coffee, put some bacon in your stomach? Where are you in a hurry to go?”

Niall silently agreed. He sipped his coffee for the first time and was blown away by the smoky chocolate flavor. He chugged half his cup then grabbed a few pieces of bacon then sat on his blanket.

“Now I’m just going to go over three things with you,” Gus began holding up three fingers. “Levels, Skills, and Experience. They all work together. You get experience through working on your skills which then let you level up. Everyone’s skills are different but people with the same class as you will have very similar skill options. You’ll discover skills once you start doing things related to your class. So for you once you start doing farming stuff you’ll start to understand. But homesteading is a wide class so random things may unlock skills. The more you work on your skills, the more interesting things will get, don’t ask now, you’ll find out once you start doing your thing. Leveling up has no true purpose in and of itself, but everytime you level up you’ll get a special reward. When you get it and what it is are determined by a thousand different variables, but it will always be something you want. The higher the level the better the reward. Make sense? It's kind of like the tooth fairy!”

“No.”

Gus waved his hand, “you’ll get it eventually, now come on let's pack up and hit the road.”

“Where are we going?” Niall asked.

“You’ll see,” Gus laughed.

He made quick work packing up his cooking gear and dousing the fire so that all Niall had to do was fold away his blanket before they were ready to go. Gus led him through the tall grass to reveal a narrow road made of packed dirt lying in the valley of two hills. A small carriage with a pair of horses waited for them.

“Hop on, the girls don’t bite,” Gus said before ducking briefly into the carriage cabin. He reappeared moments later empty handed. “Come on get on,” he said, helping Niall onto the driving bench. Gus climbed up after him and grabbed the reins. With a slight nudge the carriage began to move.

“Isn’t this a bit strange?” Niall asked, he had to speak up in order to be heard over the pounding of horse hooves and the creaking of table sized wheels.

“What do you mean?” Gus asked with a surprised look.

“I mean we just met, not thirty minutes ago, after you made yourself at home in my camp. I still don’t know anything about you besides your name and I’m now on your wagon going who knows where.”

“I suppose it's a little strange, but I assure you I’m harmless,” Gus said matter of factly.

“Uh huh. So are you going to tell me about yourself or at least where we’re going?”

“I’m going to be taking you to a friend of mine, he’s the mayor of a little town where I think you’d fit in,” Gus answered.

“How do you know that? You barely know anything about me?”

“I know you’re a homesteader and I know my friend well. Classes say a lot about a person here. It shows their true selves,” Gus explained.

“Well what's your class,” Niall asked.

“I was simply a Wanderer.”

“Was?”

Gus laughed, “I don’t want to complicate things any further for you. You’ll understand eventually.”

Niall didn’t push further. “So where are you from then, like before?”

“Let me give you some advice Niall, don’t ask people that question without knowing if they want to answer. You’ll learn most people are ready to move on from the old world. Some hang on to it but others see this as a clean slate, to take the best of themselves from the old world and use those lessons to live the life they wanted in this one. If you try you will eventually forget,” Gus said knowingly.

What if I don’t want to forget? “How long have you been here?”

“Time fades as well.”

“You’re not making sense. You asked me about myself back at the camp,” Niall protested.

“I was helping you, and the information I was asking dealt more with your class than your past. What I’m talking about is people’s story, that's what is sacred.”

“Is my wife here?” Niall asked suddenly.

Gus didn’t answer.

“Answer me,” Niall shouted, “is Patty here?”

“If she died over there then she’s here,” Gus answered slowly.

“How do I find her,” Niall asked, getting anxious.

Gus stopped the wagon. “Niall, look at me,” he said, staring into Niall’s eyes. “You need to stop. Everything you know has passed. The best parts of you have been reborn but if you hold onto the past you bring the bad with the good. I’ve seen people waste centuries searching for people they once knew, for nothing. Your wife, Patty, is in a good place now, and your paths will cross again if they are meant to.”

“So I’m just supposed to abandon her? What about my kids? My parents?”

“Niall, I’m just giving you my thoughts. I’ve seen a lot here. Some souls are meant to be reunited, most not. Either way it would be a long journey to find any of them. The longer you’re here the more you will understand.” Gus nudged the wagon back into motion and the two rode in silence.