"… Sky realm, I'm telling you," one was saying. "Saw it with my own eyes when I was a boy. A dragon, came down and burned three villages to cinders. The Lord's champion faced it, but even at King realm, he barely left a mark. Took a dozen masters, each one from a different school even, and even then they only wounded it."
Another guard spat into the grass, bearing a look of disbelief. "You always speak the most outrageous things, even talking of realms like it's a ladder. Most men never get past the Baptism, let alone step into Mortal. Not to mention, this nation hasn't recorded sights of a dragon in over a century... how old are you again?" He said, drawing laughs from the others while the other tried to defend his story.
Keane let the words wash over him, filing away the numbers: twelve masters, a dragon that resisted even the top fighters, schools... It was all familiar, yet not... This world's logic mapped onto his own, but with pieces missing. 'Earth Realm, King Realm…' he thought. 'That's certainly not levels.'
He spooned up a mouthful of stew again, chewing as he reviewed the implications. If Sky realm was the apex, then everything below was a race to get there. 'This world doesn't run on systems. It's something else, tiers of power.'
'If they don't have levels, I'm the odd one out.' He thought to himself, seeing possibility of an even bigger advantage.
He grinned, and the urge to ask burned at the tip of his tongue, but he forced it down. Best not to broadcast ignorance this early. Let them think he was strange, not clueless.
After the meal, the mood at camp became subdued.
Elara rose, her figure commanding attention. "Rest now," she said to the group. "We move at dawn." Her eyes lingered on Keane, as she asked for a bath to be prepared for him.
Keane was quietly savoring the afterglow of terrible food and fire when not long after a pair of hands deposited a shallow wooden basin and a jug of steaming water at his side, alongside a towel, surely suggesting he didn't bath with the water but clean himself. The hands belonged to a woman, hair bound in a simple braid, eyes averted in careful deference. She retreated before he could say anything, almost as though shy.
He poured the water, the heat prickling his chilled skin, and plunged his hands into the basin. The blood came off in slow, swirling ribbons, and the faint sting of herbal antiseptic cut through the residue of the beast. There were more cuts than he'd noticed, tiny, splintered abrasions lacing his knuckles, the aftermath of "bone meeting bone". He scrubbed them clean, wincing when the pain finally caught up in sharp stings.
A folded bundle of clothes appeared next, dropped with a perfunctory "with Lady Elara's compliments" by the same woman. Keane inspected them to find loose brown trousers, a cream shirt with wide sleeves, and a half-robe cut to hang open in front. Not noble garb, but clean and far better than the blood-soaked rags he'd started with.
He moved everything behind a wagon so he could clean his entire body properly and also change, emerging as the guards around the fire fell silent in unison. The new clothes fit well, a bit baggy in the legs, but he supposed that was intended fashion. The shirt's fabric was coarse but not uncomfortable, and the robe lent him a peculiar, almost scholarly air. He looked down at himself, then shrugged and returned to his place near the flames.
Lady Elara appeared not long after, her presence a ripple through the stillness. She wore a midnight gown now, or at least it looked as such, and a cloak over, hood lowered, the firelight doing strange things to her features, sometimes soft, sometimes sharp, as if she could be both at once. She carried herself with the unhurried confidence of someone used to being obeyed.
She took the place beside him again, this time close enough that their shoulders might brush if either leaned in.
"Thank you for accepting the clothes," she said, voice low. "It's the least I can offer after your… intervention."
Keane rolled his shoulder, working out a kink. "Better than what I had."
They let the quiet stretch for a few heartbeats, the fire crackling, the wounded sleeping now, the guards hunched in their own private conversations as they too prepared their lay.
Elara broke the silence, eyes fixed on the flames. "We leave for Valewind at first light." She said. "The pass is rarely safe, even with hired blades, but the men will sleep easier knowing you're with us."
Keane raised an eyebrow. "And you?"
Her lips quirked. "I have always trusted in my own judgment. It hasn't failed me yet."
He let that hang. The tension was different now, less suspicion and more mutual appraisal.
She turned to him, blue eyes lit from within. "I won't insult you by pretending you need our company. But if you wish to travel with us, I would be willing to offer compensation."
Keane's mouth twisted in a dry smile. "What's the going rate for monster slayers these days?"
"Gold, food, and safe passage," she said, ticking off the list. "But I suspect you'd find such rewards trivial."
"What if I wanted something else?" he asked, voice soft, eyes fixed on her.
She met his gaze without flinching. "Name it."
"Information." He said.
Her eyes widened ever slightly, accompanied by a faint grin. "Most men keep their ignorance as a shield. You want to shed yours so soon?"
He shrugged. "Curiosity's a habit of mine."
He hesitated, then let the lie fall from his lips, smooth as silk. "My family has… traditions. We spent many years away from civilization. Because of it, I am not knowlegeable about the common things of the outside world."
Hearing this, she didn't press, but he saw the spark of skepticism, the way she weighed his story and found it lacking, yet chose not to challenge it. Instead, she let her hand drift to the edge of the basin as if by accident, her fingers brushing his for an instant before she drew them back.
"Your hands," she said. "You've fought before, but not as a mercenary."
He didn't deny it. "You notice a lot." He said, even if he called bullshit inwardly.
"I make it my business," she said. Her voice softened, almost a caress. "You will find Valewind different from the world you've seen so far. It's a city of games, masks, and rules. To thrive there requires more than strength."
He watched her, weighing the risk and reward of pushing further.
"I'll manage," he said, letting his own charisma fill the space between them.
She smiled, almost despite herself. "I believe you will."
They sat like that for a while, not speaking, the proximity speaking for itself.
Eventually, Elara stirred, stood, and straightened her cloak. "We depart at dawn. As for information, I am always available."
He nodded, watching her go, the movement of her cloak like a controlled flow of grace.
He sat for a time, reviewing the conversation, extracting data points, politics, huh? So that's where she's special.' He thought to himself.
As Elara disappeared into her personal wagon, certain big enough for her to sleep in, he pulled up the system, half out of habit, half from a restless curiosity.
…
[SYSTEM]
Name: Keane
Level: 2
Class: None
EXP: [██████████]
[STATS]
Strength (STR): 99
Dexterity (DEX): 99
Constitution (CON): 99
Intelligence (INT): 99
Wisdom (WIS): 99
Charisma (CHA): 99
HP: [9902 / 9902]
MP: [9902 / 9902]
Resistances: []
[Skills]
None
[Sub Skills]
- NEW! Charm
- NEW! Seduction
[Distributable Points]
Stat Points: 10
Skill Points: 10
Mastery Points: 10
…
"What the..." He said out loud without even realising it. Then he looked around to see if anyone has heard him, but they appeared to be asleep. By then only those keeping watch remained awake and outside the camp's perimeters.
…
[Sub-Skill: Charm]
Type: Passive
Description: Enhances all social interactions, including negotiation, loyalty, intimidation, and the formation of alliances or relationships. Effects scale with CHA.
[Sub-Skill: Seduction]
Type: Passive
Description: Enhances all romantic and physical attraction.
…
Keane almost laughed. The system was on the nose, as usual. He replayed the night's conversations in his mind, the way the females of the caravan softened at his voice, the way Lady Elara's eyes had followed him, curious and just a little wary, and even his interaction with the lady that brought him water.
So it was working, then? Or did all that lead to me gaining the skills? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't complaining either.
These two skills were kind of power that got you through doors, past guards, into beds, and, if you played it right, onto thrones. He felt a pulse of satisfaction, a hunger that had little to do with the day's exhaustion.
The old world had never given him this kind of leverage. Here, he had it for free.
He closed the system and shut his eyes, letting the night fill with possibility, feeling more relaxed with his new addition to his arsenal.