Isa was motioned over toward something on the ground a good distance away. Hunter was already describing what direction we were supposed to go, but all Isa said was,
“What? What are you looking at?”
Hunter looked quizzically at Isa and replied,
“Da tracks on the ground. Can yah not see them?”
In fact, Isa could not see them. She strained her eyesight to see them, and it failed to find any tracks. Hunter seemed to notice, albeit after a couple of minutes went by, Isa's frustration. He hesitantly offered to teach her. Isa accepted and listened to his instruction for a few minutes until something popped into her vision.
Be Aware: You have learned Tracking
Isa started to pull up the details on Tracking but thought better of it since Hunter was still talking. Isa politely interjected,
"Give me a second; I think I got something."
Hunter got quiet and gave Isa time to look into whatever she was looking into. Isa pulled up the menu on her skills.
Tracking: Highlights animal and beast footprints and allows you to track where they went. Active skill. Consumes stamina at a rate of 1/s. Currently able to see large and medium footprints.
Now Isa's question was: what was her stamina? In fact, what was her health? Isa looked it up and quickly found she had 100 health and 100 stamina. So that would allow her to have 100 seconds of tracking.
I wonder what my stamina regen is. And my health regen, for that matter.
Isa looked into that as well. And found that there was no health and stamina regeneration listed.
Be Aware: You have noticed a lack of information crucial to the game world. Attempting to rectify…. Succeeded. Check your status page, also called a character sheet, a character window, a character page, a status sheet, or a status window for details.
Just another thing to look up. When are we going to get into the meat of this game?
Isa looked up the information and saw that the information had indeed been added.
Name: Isa
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Level: 1
Disposition: Neutral
Reputation: Not worthy of thought
Constitution: 1
Vitality: 1
Strength: 1
Wisdom: 1
Intelligence: 1
Endurance: 1
Charisma: 1
Luck: 450
Health: 100/100 Health Regen: 3/s
Mana: 0/0 Mana Regen: 0/s
Stamina: 100/100 Stamina Regen: .75/s
Isa noticed that her Luck had gone back to 450 from 400.
I'd like to know what that's about.
Isa proceeded to think about something else that seemed to be missing from the status sheet, the experience bar. Maybe she didn't have any experience is why it had yet to show up. Then again, a developer flaw, like so many others.
Error… Experience bar not present… Attempting to rectify… Success…. Check the status sheet to view changes. Also, retroactive experience will be added.
Isa, once again, checked her status window.
Name: Isa
Level: 1 Experience 82/100
Disposition: Neutral
Reputation: Not worthy of thought
Constitution: 1
Vitality: 1
Strength: 1
Wisdom: 1
Intelligence: 1
Endurance: 1
Charisma: 1
Luck: 450
Health: 100/100 Health Regen: 3/s
Mana: 0/0 Mana Regen: 0/s
Stamina: 100/100 Stamina Regen: .75/s
Finally, everything seemed to be correct on her status screen. She looked back at Hunter and gave a toothy smile,
"I can see them now; thank you for the help. Let me lead you there so I can work on my tracking ability."
Be Aware: You have developed Frostbite in your toes. Frostnip on your feet. Reduced blood flow to lower extremities. Find a heat source to reverse.
Damn, this again… I’ll have to pick up the pace. But as much as certain parts of this game aren’t realistic, this cold is brutal.
Isa picked up the pace, but it was slow going because of her Frostbite. Isa walked slowly, turning into a limp, forward with her Tracking ability active and followed the tracks. Hunter seemed to be grumbling about something behind her but dutifully followed behind her.
After walking for a few minutes, a snowfall started coming down. It was coming down heavy too. So much so that after 5 more minutes of walking, they had to slow to a crawl to get through the snow banks that had accumulated, and they seemed just to be getting higher.
Be Aware: You have developed Frostbite in your lower extremities. Movement speed was reduced by 95%.
Isa had lost the tracks 10 minutes ago, but, luckily, the smell of cooked meat wafted their way, and Isa had been following that ever since. With Hunter close behind, Isa was barely moving through the high snow banks taller than her, not to mention the Frostbite slowing her down. At 5' 7", she wasn't short, but this snow kept building higher and higher. And the winds had picked up, causing the snow to pile higher. Isa was getting colder and colder and felt like she would pass out… and then her vision turned black.
"Hunter, I can't see; my vision went away.", Isa frantically said.
Hunter responded, "I see a cave up ahead; let's head there." Hunter led her toward the cave at the breakneck speed of the recently blind and disoriented. It took them 15 minutes to get to the cave mouth. As soon as they arrived, Isa sat down and tried calming herself. The only problem was that she sat down on a decline. She heard a twang and a grunt. Once she fell to the bottom and slammed into a wall, she passed out.