“Nathan Sutton. Are you awake?”

Nate peeled one eye open and groaned. Then he jerked back with a start, the sudden motion making his head swim.

“Jesus Christ, Christophe!” he croaked through a gritty throat. The young man was inches from Nate’s face.

“Oh. Sorry, Nathan Sutton. I was just going to breakfast and wanted to see if you were up yet. What is Jesus Christ?”

“It’s…” Nate tried to think of a short explanation. Then he abandoned the attempt. He was much too hung over to try to explain Earth religious figures right now. “I told you to just call me Nate.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, Nate. I forgot. It’s just such a big day. The quests are active! Did you see?” Christophe’s face was alight with excitement.

Nate tried unsuccessfully to suppress another groan. The party had gone late into the night, and the food and drink had been free. Nate had lost track of how many of the myriad strange cocktails on offer he had indulged in. He had only vague memories of stumbling back to the Traveler’s Retreat, Christophe beside him propping him up.

Nate finally opened his other bleary eye and noticed the dim light just beginning to peak around the shutters. It must be close to dawn.

“I haven’t seen anything yet, Christophe. Why don’t you go ahead without me? I’ll catch up with you later.” By later, Nate meant after the pounding in his head had subsided. That likely wouldn’t be until well after noon.

“Hmm. Yes, I could do that. Only…” Christophe twitched uncomfortably. “The first training session of the day is coming up soon. It’s on how to use our interface screens. It’s not required that everyone attend, of course, but…” the mage trailed off, giving Nate a wide-eyed, pleading look.

Nate sighed. Then he cautiously rolled to a sitting position. He desperately wanted to go back to sleep. But he couldn’t afford to miss out on any information when it was being given out for free. He had already realized that his unique disadvantages could be a problem. There was so much that everyone else seemed to already know that he did not. Even Christophe, who hadn’t been shy about sharing that he was from what most would consider a backwater world, possessed a wealth of knowledge about Farandway.

The problem was that Nate wasn’t sure it was a good idea to reveal the level of his own ignorance. The error message he had received during character creation gave the definite impression that people from worlds the System regarded as “Unaffiliated” were not supposed to be here. Nate had no idea what made him an exception to this rule. But it wasn’t something he wanted to share with just anyone. Who knew what kind of reaction he would get. That meant he had to be careful what questions he asked. Being obviously unaware of facts that everyone else took for granted would make him stand out like a sore thumb.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go eat,” Nate said, though the idea of food at the moment made him feel a bit green. Christophe didn’t even wait for Nate to get out of bed. He bounded out of the room.

Nate stretched and tried to collect himself. That was when he noticed the blinking icon in his vision. He focused on it.

{Congratulations, Traveler! Your Quest screen has been activated. You currently have 1 Active Quest.

Quest: Retrieve a Jewel of Farandway (Mandatory Quest; Universal Quest)

While the paths tread by Travelers are varied, they all lead towards the same destination. Obtain one of the fabled Jewels of Farandway to become a true adventurer.

Reward: Quest reward box equal to player level. Infusion of power.}

Nate read through the prompt twice before dismissing it. Then he stumbled out of bed.

A few minutes later, the two found themselves in the crowded mess hall. It was dark, with a low, squat ceiling that made the atmosphere oppressive. The place was packed with Travelers, and while many of them read as Level 1, a majority provided almost no information when identified, proving they were of a higher level. Nate and Christophe plodded through a slow-moving line until they arrived at a buffet style spread that reminded Nate of a school cafeteria. Or a prison. He looked closely at the food offered. No, definitely more like a school. The food in prison was usually better than this.

Nate and Christophe took their thin grey gruel and hard biscuits to a nearby table and scarfed it down as quickly as they could. Despite the crowd, there was very little discussion. The tight, uncomfortable quarters didn’t encourage people to linger.

The food was bland, but not as disgusting as it looked. As Nate ate, he found, to his surprise, that his headache and general sickly feeling eased substantially. He commented to Christophe that he was feeling better.

“Oh, yes, the food in the mess hall has mild buffing qualities. It can restore small amounts of health and get rid of some status ailments. I heard some people saying last night that it was great for hangovers. That’s why I wanted you to come.”

After breakfast, Nate followed Christophe into the rocky practice yard. There was a group of about twenty other Level 1 travelers milling about, with a few more wandering in over the next few minutes. It wasn’t long before the commotion ceased as a familiar figure strolled into the yard, drawing all eyes.

“Good morning, good morning. I hope you all had some fun last night,” Tully, the withered orc chuckled. “Nothing a good breakfast can’t fix, I hope. I am Tully, the caretaker of the Traveler’s Retreat. I met most of you last night when you checked in, and I’m running this session to get you oriented on your menu system. We’ll have other sessions throughout the day. There will be lessons on combat, magic, basic survival, and a few more subjects.”

Tully took a seat on the dusty ground facing the group of onlookers and motioned for them all to follow suit. With a minimum of grumbling about the dirt, the crowd complied.

“The goal, of course, is to get all of you to a point where you can survive outside the city walls. Now, now…” the orc chuckled again as he heard some muttering in the crowd, “I know it won’t be easy. None of you has a Faction, and many are from recently Affiliated worlds. That might make you think you’re just lambs to the slaughter here. But, if you hang around long enough, you’ll figure out those advantages aren’t all they are cracked out to be. I’ve seen plenty of promising stars from the mighty Factions fall in their first week in Farandway. And more than a few who started their journey at the Traveler’s Retreat have moved up quickly and left the valley to join the hunt for the Jewels. It’s all about opportunities. And what you do with them.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

There was more murmuring, though this time it sounded a bit less dour. But not everyone was satisfied with this.

“Easy for someone who never left the valley himself to say!” yelled a…well, Nate wasn’t really sure what he was. The speaker was vaguely human, but with thick limbs, brick red skin, and heavy ridges across his forehead and jaw.

Tully didn’t seem offended by the comment. He nodded and grinned.

“Aye, Tully decided to stay put here in the City of Dawn. Never fancied adventure much, myself. I was old and on my last leg when I came here. My world picks travelers through a lottery. My grandson was chosen. I volunteered to take his place. Didn’t expect to survive the first week, to be honest. Yet here I am, many years later, still kicking. And at Level 10, to boot. Decided I could do the most good by sticking around and training up you youngins. But you, friend…Clarnek, is it? You seem like a stout, strong youth. Surely you can go farther than old Tully ever dreamed, if you just put some effort into it.”

Clarnek continued to glare at Tully. But he kept his mouth closed for now.

“We’re starting off today easy-like, with the most basic skill you’ll be needing on Farandway. Menu navigation. Mastering your interface isn’t just useful. It can save your life. Let’s get started.”

They spent the next hour learning how to pull up menus. There was a lot more than Nate had thought. He knew he could pull up his character sheet, which is what they started with.

{Nathan Sutton: Rogue Level 1 HP: 15/15 MP: 3/3

Stats

Strength: 5

Constitution: 6 (+1) Free Points: 0

Dexterity: 12

Willpower: 5

Intelligence: 6

Charisma: 7}

There were two changes from the first time Nate had seen it. The first was that his health had topped off. The second was that, for some reason he didn’t understand, his constitution had gained a point. He didn’t have time to think about that as they kept going. From there, though, he learned that there were was a lot more information he could access with the right focused thoughts. His inventory list was interesting, but didn’t provide any insights. It listed his starting equipment, and included a line for him money. Interestingly, it only included the money he had on him physically, ignoring the stash that was still hidden away under the floorboards in his room. He also had a sheet for his current skills.

{Skill List

Improved Running: Novice

Sleight of Hand: Novice

Improved Aim-Thrown Objects: Novice

Enhanced Concealment: Cost- Novice

Dagger Proficiency: Cost- Novice

Light Armor Proficiency: Novice}

“Remember, you can improve a skill by spending skill points,” Tully called to the group. “but they cost doubles for each level up. Your best bet is to spend your skill points on getting new skills, then advance them through use.”

Many, including Christophe, nodded at this as though it was obvious.

Next they looked at the Quest page. He only had the one quest to find Jewels of Farandway currently, but Tully told them they would acquire new quests as they went, with most being given to those who left the city. At that comment, Nate leaned over and risked a hushed question to Christophe.

“Why does he keep talking about leaving the city and leaving the valley like that? Do a lot of people just stick around here?”

Nate was worried that Christophe might get suspicious at the question. But the young man was so focused on the lecture that he didn’t even glance at Nate, just gave him a hushed, hurried response.

“Most Travelers who aren’t part of a Faction don’t really want to be here. They don’t have much hope of surviving if they join the actual hunt for Jewels. I don’t know what the percentages are, but a good number of people who come to Farandway never leave the city or the valley. Everyone you see in Dawn is a Traveler that chose to stay for one reason or another.”

Nate thought about that as the lesson continued. These were all menus Nate had seen before. The rest were all new to him. There was a page that showed status conditions, either buffs or debuffs. The only one currently listed explained the mystery of his higher constitution.

{Status Conditions

Temporary status buff gained due to enhanced meal. +1 Constitution. Expires in 3 hours, 27 minutes.}

Nate casually wondered if hours and minutes worked the same way on Farandway, or if the System was simply converting things into units of time he could understand better. He made a mental note to try to track the length of the day.

There were several other screens they looked at, though they went through them quickly and Nate didn’t really understand their uses. He schooled himself to be patient, hoping it would become clear later. The last screen, however, was very interesting.

“Your activity log is probably the single most useful screen in your menu,” Tully yelled. “It tracks everything. And I do mean everything. That can make it a bit daunting to scroll through. But it also means that, provided you check it frequently, you’ll rarely be caught by surprise. Take a few minutes to look through your log from your first day. I bet you’ll find a few surprises!”

Nate started scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling.

“Jesus Christ,” he whispered under his breath. Christophe gave him a look, but Nate ignored it.

He learned several interesting things as he looked through his log. For example, he had imbibed 12 ounces of alcohol the night before, and produced 154ml of urine that morning when he stopped by the latrine. The log also indicated events that had earned experience points. Nate had never been big into gaming, but he knew enough that these points for successfully completing tasks were likely the key to advancing levels and skills.

He had received experience for several things during the brief fight with Grundar and his associates last night. He had gotten a chunk for running down the row of tables, and a smaller amount for the rock he had thrown at the archer. Both of these sets of points were listed in yellow, with the associated skill next to them.

{Thrown rock strikes target. Critical strike. 30 XP (Improved Aim-Thrown objects)}

There was nothing to indicate how many XP were necessary to advance the skill. Scrolling back further, Nate saw the biggest chunk of experience he had gained.

{Successfully stole Grundar’s purse. XP adjusted for value of purse. 125 XP (Sleight of Hand)}

Nate’s eyebrows rose at that. If someone else could access his character log, they could see exactly what he had done. Come to think of it, hadn’t the middle-aged guard that had followed him out of the station last night said something about making Nate show them his character sheet? This seemed like a decidedly unpleasant foil for a would-be thief.

As if hearing his thoughts, Tully spoke.

“You can always show others your menu screens. It just takes a little willpower to project. This can be useful for sharing quests and the like. But, under no circumstances do I recommend showing someone else your log sheet. It’s considered rude to ask, and it is illegal to try to force someone to share their log inside the city. Out in the wilds, though, there are no rules. Of course, if you run into someone strong enough to force you to share your log, you probably have bigger things to worry about.”

They continued to play with the menus for another twenty minutes or so before Tully announced they were done. As he stood, he gave them one last set of directions.

“There’s a notice board back by the dorms with a list of lessons that will happen each day. You aren’t required to attend any of them, of course. But I recommend checking out at least a few. The first one is going to be basic combat, and it starts in an hour.”

Christophe looked to Nate, and he recognized that wide-eyed excitement. Nate groaned internally. It looked like he was going to be learning how to fight today.