ISMUND

Seems to probably be one more day of walking and then we’ll be there. Hopefully, I can find something at the house to use or bury, maybe some clues at the sight.

“So uhhh, where are we trying to go again?” Drifa asks again, to my annoyance.

She’s getting on my nerves, does she have to be this conversational?

“Hey, grumps, I’m talking to you! Could you at least tell me your name so you don’t always get called grumps? It’s annoying thinking of you as a ‘guy’ in my head.”

Why do I have to have her with me again?

> [User Drifa designated as help is accompanying you so that it is harder for you to die and to help complete the goal of destroying all of the dungeons. It is advised that you are less hostile for better combat efficiency.]

I don’t need the system to lecture me. She has nothing I can tell that is useful except for her butter knife.

“Grumps!?” She tries to get my attention again.

“It’s Ismund,” I say, long-suffering. Hearing what I swear is a victory dance behind me, I move on.

“Can you answer one more question,… please?”

“What is it? Last one.”

“So is there anything you can tell me about how the system works? is it like a video game?”

Sighing, I responded tersely, “It’s meant to help us destroy the monsters that have invaded. You work hard, the system makes it easier for you to rise beyond regular limitations; S+, S, A, B, C, D, E, F. Don’t bother trying to get more out of me, just ask the system itself if you're so curious.”

Finally, she shuts her mouth, leaving me alone.

***

After noticing the sun going down I resolve to call it a day. Taking off my pack I pull out my tent and bedding and look off into the distance.

Yep, there she is. Waaaay out there. Boy, am I glad I don’t sink.

It takes a while for me to figure out how to set up the tent in the deep snow, thankfully I don’t make a mess while doing it. If I did then it would be a lot more difficult.

After making some little touch-ups I decided to make some food.

She’s probably cold, so I’ll make soup. I never really cooked, but Mum usually just put stuff in a pot.

Starting a small fire with the toothpicks, I shovel some snow into the pot and wait for it to melt.

How am I supposed to keep this up here? I think it was normally able to hang on something, but I can’t find anything here that could do that. I guess I can start training now.

Eventually, the snow was all water so I added the beef jerky in and switched hands over because my arm was getting tired.

“I’m back…“, she pauses, gulping in air, “What’s that? Why’d you go so fast? Is it a special power? I must be at least A ranked, huh?” Finally finishing her relentless questions, I decided to give her a surprise.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“This is the soup I made. It has mainly protein-based ingredients and a delicate broth. It’s nice and hot.”

It looks edible, just like Mum used to make.

I give myself a sad smile and quickly give myself a second toothpick. “No kidding it’s protein-based, and the broth is thin. Did you just use water and the beef jerky you bought?” She says rather condescending.

Face falling expressionless, I put out the fire and head to my tent, still leaving the pot out. Eating the still-dried jerky in my pack I hear her talking to herself outside.

She should be glad to have any hot food at all. There aren’t any trees in sight, so I wouldn’t normally even be able to make a fire in the first place if it weren’t for the toothpicks I sacrificed along with my achievement [Woodsman].

“Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Making fun of his cooking isn’t a good way to make him think you’re useful, even though I can cook.” groaning and pacing, she continues, “Maybe it tastes great? I should at least have it, I don’t want to waste anything, and I am cold. Hopefully, I didn’t ruin it. I should probably say ‘sorry’…” Breaking off, she starts eating difficult-to-make-soup.

rustle

Barely acknowledging her entrance, I continue inspecting my box.

“So uh, about earlier. It was nice to have something hot after being in the cold. Um, thank you.” Looking away she rubs the back of her neck, “Soooo, sorry about earlier.”

“Mm.” I continue messing with the intricate box. Looking down at it, she quickly changes the subject, “Nice box you have there, Ismund.” She reaches out questioningly, face practically screaming ‘I need to be helpful’.

Oh boy.

“So uhhh, what were you doing?” She says confused.

“I’m trying to find out if there’s anything in particular hidden in there,” I say tightly, hoping she doesn’t ruin it somehow.

“Why do you think there’s anything special?” She says with prodding, poking and prodding it.

“…”

“Okay then. Anyway, I think I found something.” She says drawing her eyebrows together.

Quickly arresting the box from her in my excitement, I just see her hand gone with a stump in the box still.

I never did touch the bottom of the box, there didn’t seem to be room to hide anything.

“No.” She says quickly, focusing on something ahead of her. She had some sort of notification appear, I’m certain, her pupils constricted to an alarming degree.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” I say incredulously.

“Just responding to the notification. You haven’t given me a lot to work with in terms of navigating it.” She says obligingly, taking her hand out of the box.

“Ah, an illusion.”I try to say flatly but fail to master my expression.

Dipping my hand in, I get a notification.

> [Blessed artifact found! Assessing… Would User Ismund like to bind to it?]

I see now, her reaction makes more sense. Glad she didn’t bind herself.

Yes, System. Now get out of my head.

> [Confirmed, binding box…]

>

> [Binding Complete! New item, Small Wooden Box]

>

> [Small Wooden Box: Special Item(Bound).]

>

> [-This little old thing has infinite timeless storage, whatever fits through the opening is allowed in unless it is a living organism not in stasis. No other entity may access it without explicit permission without threatening the user Ismund may access it or break it. You may view the items in your status, or grab items out of the air within arms reach, you may also place items of the proper size back in the box on command(all three previous actions may only be done within arms reach). Hooray for convenience! Small Wooden Box’s Identity will not be revealed as a blessed artifact for safety reasons without permission from user Ismund.]

I take a quick inventory of what’s inside.

“So uh, what’s in it?” she says, trying to re-engage the conversation.

“I think I need to get to bed,” I say, cutting her off.

It’s got some good stuff in here, but I don’t trust her to keep her mouth shut. Explaining it will probably lead to more time being lost from her questions. We do need to get going tomorrow. I want to see if I can find anything, or at least have a final look at the village before I leave.

… After that, I can grow in power so I can avenge them.

Settling down I make sure I pack everything so it’s ready to go in the morning. Going outside I grab the pot wash it with the snow and scrape the hard bits off with small chunks of ice. Clean and collapsed, I place it back in my bag.

I’m really glad I got that Ice affiliation trait, it would’ve been really hard to get across without it. Although I made the same time I would’ve otherwise because I had to wait for somebody when I was getting across.

In the morning I’ll check out the sword I got from the box as well as how that translates over to the muscle memory I already have.

Making sure to test out my experiment, I put a few toothpicks in my mouth and fell asleep, trying to not stab myself.