The next morning, Caution and Astel took a trip to the Lissos magic library for their first meeting. That was what Caution called it… A meeting. It wasn’t a hang out. It was business. The twins decided to tag along which wasn’t a surprise. From the moment they could walk, they had a tendency to follow him everywhere and today was no different.
On their way to the library, they flocked around Astel and bombarded him with questions.
“So where are you from Astel?” Lilly asked.
“Savial. It’s a nearby coastal village not too far from here."
“Who taught you archery?”
Caution walked slightly ahead on the footpath, fiddling with the crimson cube. He listened intently, eager for intel on his enemy.
“No one. I’m self-taught.”
“Wow, that’s impressive!” Lilly said. Yolga nodded in agreement.
The more Astel talked about his childhood and upbringing, the more it became apparent that he was born in similar circumstances as Caution. He had lived with two parents and a five-year-old sister. Being the only magic user in his village, the locals urged him to enter the adventurer school.
Three minutes of walking later, they arrived at the magic library. The two storey building was filled with numerous bookshelves and wooden studying tables.
“Lilly, Yolga,” Caution said. “Please can you get me all the books you can find on the topic of dark energy?”
“What’s dark energy?” Yolga asked.
“Exactly. That’s why we need books on it.”
“Sure, big brother,” Lilly replied. “We’re on it.”
Caution lightly punched her shoulder. “Thanks.”
“What are you going to do?"
“You know how I am sis. Always hungry for knowledge.” Caution pointed at Astel with an extended thumb. “I want to know what this guy knows.”
----------------------------------------
“So have you played an RPG before?” asked Astel.
Caution leaned back in his wooden chair and thought hard. For some reason, it always felt weird recalling information from his first life.
“No, but I’m aware it’s a genre of games. I think my son played a few of them.”
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“Okay. I guess I’ll start with—”
“Tell me everything,” Caution interrupted. “Tell me everything you know about the the genre and how it links to the Half-Dead Game.”
“Haha, calm down. I was going to. First of all, it stands for role-playing games…”
Astel gave a detailed summary of the typical game mechanics and core elements of an RPG, including skills, classes, levelling up and the importance of killing monsters to gain XP.
“I see,” Caution replied after Astel had finished. He tried his best to mask any sign of excitement. “Have you killed any monsters yet?” Knowledgeable of the country's history, he already knew the answer but wanted to confirm.
“No. We live in a peaceful country where humans have full control over the land. Monsters only reside in dungeons and caves, which only adventurers are allowed to access. You won’t even find low level slimes lingering about.”
Caution sighed. Deep down, he figured that something was stunting his growth but now his suspicions were confirmed. Albert and many other players may have already killed hundreds of monsters.
“How have I been gaining experience points then?” Caution asked.
“Passively. Every day, you get a tiny bit of XP. That’s why you’re level 2 right now. Levelling up automatically improves certain stats by a small margin but, as you’ve probably guessed, there is a way to improve the four main performance stats.”
“Practice?
Astel nodded. “I believe it’s an inefficient method but it seems you’ve been able to grind out your stamina. What have you been doing?”
“Lots of stuff but it’s probably the running.”
“Yup, that will do it. You will have noticed that you have no skills available. This is because you haven’t chosen a class yet. Did you skip the introductory phase?”
“The what now?”
Astel looked confused. “Before the game started, the alien told us to enter the portals. That was the introductory phase.”
“Ohhhh.” Caution smiled sheepishly as he thought back to challenging the creator. He told Astel about the mini game.
“That’s insane. You’re insane,” Astel said. “So that’s why you’ve got that creator item.”
“How do I enter the introductory phase then?”
“Not sure but you can use the contestant support button to find out.”
“Support button?”
“Yeah. You just go to ‘settings’”
Caution leaned forward in his chair. “There’s no ‘settings’. I didn’t see no ‘settings.’”
“There is.” Astel grinned. “You didn’t know? Sixteen years of training and running around and you didn’t know there was a settings?”
Caution had no retort. He opened up the dashboard and looked around.
“It’s the cog icon in the top right corner,” Astel said.
“This is bullshit!” Caution yelled.
“Sssshh.” An adventurer student at a nearby table glared at them.
“This is bullshit,” Caution whispered. “I never saw that. There’s no way that was there before. Plus, it’s too small. Why can’t there be a tutorial explaining all the functions of the dashboard?”
Astel shrugged while laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I don’t know man. Never seen you angry before.”
Caution selected the settings icon and a menu with three buttons displayed.
- INVENTORY. (0/5)
- MAP
- CONTESTANT SUPPORT
“The inventory allows you to store five items without carrying them and it can be anything. I’m storing an apple right now. The map shows a map of the world, surprise surprise. You’ll be able to see the various continents and countries but it only provides detailed information on the areas you’ve explored. Contestant support should help you but I haven’t used it.”
Caution let the information sink in. Something didn’t feel right. He had checked the dashboard thoroughly multiple times. Was he really that blind? In any case, he was relieved to finally be aware of the information. It was embarrassing, sure, but he was now on his way to actually getting a class and skills.
Forming a truce with Astel was a godsend. He might have never noticed the settings if it wasn’t for him.
“Thanks for the help. I’ll check these out later."
Astel smiled. “You're welcome, partner.”
“We’re not partners. It’s a truce.”
“Understood, buddy.”