Steadfastly refusing to focus on his own thoughts about what had just happened and all the death at his hands he made his way back to where the girl was still sitting in the corner where he had found her. As he worked his way back, he gathered up sticks, twigs, and several larger branches to build a fire. He was exhausted and needed to rest and a fire, theoretically, should keep other beasts away while he did so.

Dumping the collected wood near the center of the clearing, he set about building a small firepit with loose stones before carefully stacking tinder and sticks. Once the little pillar of fire-starting materials was in place, he retrieved two stones that his fledgling survival skills indicated would work for sparking the tinder, and several minutes later, he had a small blaze burning merrily.

The girl remained where she was, watching his every move though she had lowered the dagger to her lap now since he had not acted aggressively towards her. As the flame engulfed the first larger branch, he set in the fire she finally spoke a single word. Her voice was soft, nearly a whisper, but it was clear and pure. A sound that etched itself in the young man's mind the moment he heard it. “Why?”

He paused and looked up from his fire tending to where the girl sat. She had leaned forward, and he could see her features clearer. Despite the bruises and dirt from being chased, the woman had a striking appearance. Her eyes were a vivid shade of jade, exuding a rare and vibrant quality that felt both earthy and enchanting yet somehow held an ancient presence. Her brunette hair, rich in dark brown tones with subtle highlights, he could see that normally it would cascade just past her shoulders, though now it hung limp and tangled from the fight. Her complexion was fair with a warm undertone, and just a hint of freckles dusted across her cheeks. All of which only further added a youthful, lively quality to her look. Her face had a gentle, heart-shaped structure, with high cheekbones, a delicate nose, and full, softly defined lips. Those features, however, were currently drawn in a suspicious gaze as she watched him.

His tongue froze in his mouth as he was captivated by the young woman. Again, she pressed the question. “Why?” The sound of her voice broke him from his momentary stupor, and he tore his gaze from her face to where the dagger lay in her lap.

“It seemed like the right thing to do. You were surrounded and looked like you could use help, so I did.” He replied in a voice no longer shaking with the post-fight jitters.

She snorted softly at his words. “So, you don’t have any expectations? I’m not supposed to swoon at your feet thanking you for coming to my rescue?” The bitterness in her tone made it clear that this was not the first time she had something like that happen to her in the past. Once again, she drew her knees to her chest, the dagger gripped in one hand as she rested her chin on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. As he continued to make no moves towards her and turned his gaze back to the fire she relented. “My name is Ella Bree.”

Her words drew his attention back to her and he smiled gently. “Nice to meet you, Ella Bree, as I said before I am Xavier.” He sat down on the opposite side of the fire to make sure she didn’t feel trapped by him as he spoke. “What were those things and why were they after you? Where are you from? And for that matter where are we now?”

Carefully she shifted out of her corner and over towards the warmth of the fire. The forest had mostly taken back the ruins, and its canopy kept the sun's warmth from the ground thus the fire felt welcoming to both travelers. “They were rat-men. Scavengers and thieves thought they would attack if they thought they could win. They caught me off guard while I was traveling through the woods. I did not know there were any in this area. As for where we are, this is the forest of Silverwood. How did you not know that? It stretches for miles in every direction, one of the largest forests in Eldoria.”

He noticed she didn’t answer where she was from but let it be. “I’m rather new to the area. I woke up a few days ago amid the forest, I guess you could say I am rather lost.” He added another stick to the fire. “I don’t suppose you have anything to eat. That fight took a lot out of me.” The young woman shook her head slowly. Xavier sighed slightly and poked disconsolately at the burning fire. “We probably shouldn’t stay here long then,” he said, “I don’t know if there are more of those things around.”

The young woman nodded and rose with an unusual grace as she slid the knife into her belt. As she stood, he got a better look at her. She was shorter than her presence made him expect only standing about a meter and a half tall. Her clothing, though worn and plain, was sturdy consisting of dark grey rough spun braes covering her legs down to just below the knees and a loose fitting green rough spun tunic. Oddly, he thought, she was barefoot despite having said she had been traveling in the area.

He rose to his feet as well and retrieved the longest, straightest stick he had gathered with the firewood. Pulling out his small stone knife he began to shave its tip into a point before hardening it in the fire to produce a new wooden spear.

You have discovered: Rough Wooden Spear

Item Class: Common

Item Quality: Poor

Durability: 10/10

Damage: 1 – 4 Piercing

Traits: Pride of the footman, the noble spear has broken many a charge and pierced many a heart. This basic wooden spear was crafted from a carved tree branch and lacks true weapon capabilities but hey at least you have something.

Ella Bree watched him work warily. He had helped save her from the rat-men but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his own agenda and intentions for her. As he finished the spear, she stepped back away from him to ensure she was out of his easy reach. “Are you taking me with you then?” She asked, a hint of anger tinging her words as her suspicions grew.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I’m not going to force you to. I just thought it might be safer if we travel together. You’re free to do whatever you want.” He shrugged slightly as he responded. The bite of her tone caused him to look at her once again. “I thought I would explore these ruins to see if there was anything usable before I returned to the path. The place looks well worn but there might be something in the rubble.” As he spoke, he motioned to the mostly collapsed buildings around them. He didn’t have any real hope of finding something but in video games and books, there was always something in ruins even if it was rusty and of poor quality.

The woman stared at him for a little while, her hand resting on the hilt of the dagger as she contemplated his offer. Finally, she nodded, “For now I will go with you. You are right there is safety in numbers.” Her gaze turned to the ruins and she pointed back the way she had originally come into them. “Maybe we start back down that path where they chased me and spread out from there?”

“Sounds as good a plan as any.” Xavier agreed and he snuffed the remnants of the fire with his boot. Leaning the spear against his shoulder he turned and walked down the path towards where the buildings were just starting to remain intact.

It took them most of the day to search through the ruins and twilight was settling in when they finally stopped inside a mostly intact building towards the northern edge. It was clear that it had once been a very large village but that was a very long time ago. This building abutted a large rock formation and appeared to be partially carved out of it giving it more security. The windows and doors were just open holes in the stonework, the wood or glass that had closed them from the elements had long worn away, but if felt secure and they both figured that if something should attack it would limit where they could come from.

While they were exploring Xavier had managed to spear several small rabbits, the customary prompt already read and dismissed while they had worked. Surprisingly he discovered he could minimize or set certain prompts to be ignored to review later if at all. This made him happier cause the constant notifications every time something happened were getting a little overwhelming. He had also taken the time to allocate his new attribute points and see what changes it made. He had examined each attribute and was provided with a brief explanation about what it did. It turned out they did basically what he expected. They were divided into physical attributes such as strength, agility, dexterity, constitution, and endurance; and intangible attributes like charisma, wisdom, intelligence, and luck.

Strength: This attribute is a character’s ability to perform physical actions requiring physical power. It can affect a character’s ability to carry objects, intimidate others, and increase damage when physically striking something. A character’s weight carry capacity is factored by 100 + (Str*5) “When in doubt, punch it harder”

Agility: This attribute is a character's ability to move quickly and easily. It can affect a character's ability to evade attacks, land attacks, pickpockets, and pick locks. “Because sometimes running away is the smartest move”

Dexterity: This attribute is a character's ability to perform a difficult action quickly and skillfully with the hands or body. Dexterity controls a character's attack and movement speed and accuracy, as well as their ability to evade an opponent's attack. “The difference between a graceful disarm and accidentally throwing your sword”

Constitution: This attribute is a character’s physical health. Constitution affects the ability to shrug off disease, poisons, and the individual’s overall health. Hit points are factored by 100 + (Con*10) “Because taking a punch to the face is a valid strategy”

Endurance: This attribute is a character’s ability to remain active and push past physical limits over periods of time. Stamina points are factored by 100 + (End*10) “When everyone else needs a nap, you are still standing. Barely”

Charisma: This attribute is a character’s presence of personality. Charisma factors into persuasiveness, trade and bartering, leadership, and other factors when dealing with people. “Why fight when you can talk your way out of it… or into it”

Wisdom: This attribute is a character’s self-awareness. Wisdom affects the ability to resist mental and magical effects. It also affects perception, restraint and insight. Mana is determined by 100 + (Wis*10). “For those who think twice before opening the cursed chest”

Intelligence: This attribute is a character’s mental cognitive skills. It affects skill growth, knowledge, memory, reasoning and critical thinking. Intelligence factors into magical aptitude and mana regeneration. “Someone’s gotta do the math around here”

Luck: This attribute factors into everything in some way or another. A pebble falling when trying to sneak, the mark happening to turn to talk to someone as the assassin take the shot, and a myriad of other esoteric factors. Who knows when the god of luck may curse or bless you traveler. “When all else fails, cross your fingers and hope the dice like you because, well, sometimes it’s the only thing keeping you alive!”

Name: Xavier

Level: 2, 0.35% to Next Level

Age: 32

Race: Human

Alignment: Neutral

Languages: Basic

Reputation: 0 – Nobody knows nobody cares

Stats

Health: 120/120

Stamina: 110/110

Mana: 100/100

Attributes

Strength: 9

Agility: 8

Dexterity: 9

Constitution: 10

Endurance: 9

Charisma: 8

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 9

He had split his character sheet to display only key pieces of knowledge. The way his skills had been growing, and the fact that it appeared he would not be limited in skills, he thought it would be best to look at those only when he wanted to. Overall he was satisfied with the small changes that single level had given him.

He let Ella Bree build the fire this time, as he cleaned the rabbits he had caught. Once both were prepared, he skewered the carcasses and hung them over the fire to cook. Leaning against the wall he stared out into the night sky enjoying the pleasant smell of the bar-b-queuing rabbits when he noticed for the first time how different the night was. There was a small silvery moon like what he would often see back home, but that was not all. A little higher in the sky was a deep shadowy purple orb and a green one with golden tracery shot through it as well. His eyes widened at the sight as it drove home even more that this was not the world he came from. He shook his head slightly and turned back into the room staring at his new traveling partner and the food she was cooking.