The nice man at the inn introduced himself as "Richard the small." Which implied there was a "Richard the larger" out there somewhere. He invited me in and offered me a drink.
"So how is Wendel doing? We haven't seen him in a while." Richard poured me a beer from a keg and handed me the mug.
"He seems fine. Just wanted to make sure his mother had some fresh vegetables."
Richard nodded as if this were some great wisdom. "His injury must be getting to him. But if he is sending his mum food, he must still be getting around his garden ok."
I took a sip. The beer was… interesting. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I would think of as beer. Richard had called it 'small' beer. I had thought that would mean he was only going to give me a small glass of beer. But the mug in front of me was quite large. The beer was almost flat and very hearty. There were a few bits floating it. I peered at it when he wasn't looking. I wanted to make sure they weren't bugs or something nasty. But it was just bits of grain. This beer would almost constitute a meal in itself.
Richard pulled out a cloth and started wiping mugs, and then moved onto the bar top. Obvious bartender busy work.
I had no idea what I was to be doing now. Next quest? Rest? I needed to figure out how to allocate that skill point.
"Richard, can I ask you some questions? They might seem weird."
The cloth stopped, and he tucked it in his belt. "By all means, Miss Elizabeth."
"Ok, so," I took a deep breath. I hoped the NPCs were aware of the system, or he might think I was a crazy person. Or possessed.
"I keep getting notifications that I have levelled up, but then I can't figure out how to spend my skill point. And I have received things, but I don't know how to access my inventory."
Richard stopped polishing the bar and gave me a puzzled look. Oh shit. I wondered if there was a church in this game and if I was about to be accused of witchcraft.
He sighed, tucking the cloth in his belt he poured himself a mug of beer and came over to lean against the bar by me. "Now, why didn't Wendel answer your questions? That is why he is out there. To help and welcome newcomers to our lands and ways."
Huh, seems I got the welcome but had skipped the help. "Wendel might have answered these questions, but I didn't ask him. In part because I hadn't received anything until after I left his cottage."
Was it silly that I didn't want one NPC to be mad at another NPC? Richard seemed much more person-like than Wendel had. I could almost forget he wasn't an actual person.
"That makes a bit more sense. But that boy should be offering up the information, not just waiting for travellers to know what questions they need to be asking."
"That would have been helpful."I admitted ruefully, "But I'm here now. Can you help me?"
"Of course," he said. "Let's start with pulling up your HUD. You can access everything from there. Later, you can create short cuts if you want." Richard stood. "You just take your right hand and tap your chest." He tapped the left side of his chest with an open palm.
It looked just like… no, it couldn't be.
I stood and tapped my chest.
"No, like this." He exaggerated the tapping motion with his fingers like he was tapping, yes--Like he was tapping an imaginary combadge.
I copied the motion, and suddenly my field of vision was filled with information. "Whoa, that's a lot."
"Yes, just take your finger, or concentrate on the little 'x's in the corners of boxes you don't need."
I took my finger and poked at the air in front of me, closing all the random reputation stats. It listed my reputation with every faction I could possibly have been around, including animal groups. One that was curious was:[Ground squirrels -77], but that wasn't important right now. I also closed one that seemed to be an overly detailed overview of my health, including blood pressure, hunger level, damage, etc. The former being interesting as I didn't have blood, not really.
Whoa! There were my stats.
Strength 5
Dexterity 4
Speed 4
Constitution 4
Intelligence 5
Charisma 4
Wisdom 3
Those seemed a bit low. Wait, I had gotten two points towards Constitution and three to Strength, so my base stats in those were two each. I was really weak! And what was up with that wisdom stat? I felt insulted.
"Can you see everything?"
"Yeah, this is amazing. Though I am a weak ass fighter." I was still overwhelmed at all the information available to me.
He chuckled and took a swig of his drink. "Nothing a little adventuring won't fix."
I found my skill tree.
The options overwhelmed me. I had one unspent skill point. I had the option to use it in three places.
Armour proficiency, Weapon (Club) and Unarmed.
I could see skills after the Weapon and Unarmed option, but there was nothing listed after Armour.
"Richard, what does it mean when I have a category that I can put points into that doesn't have anything after it?" I didn't look over at him; looking at things through the HUD made my head hurt.
"I don't know what you mean." He sounded confused.
I wasn't sure why, but I got the feeling I shouldn't tell people my stats. I needed help, though. I bit my lip, "Ok, so I have the option to toss a point in Weapon-club. It looks like if I put the point in there, I unlock a couple of skills I can then choose from the next time I get a skill point. But I have one called Armour Proficiency, but there is nothing after it.
"Hmm," Richard sipped at his beer a moment. "That is unusual. Usually, there is an option to unlock light armour. But I am not sure what it should look like, as I have the Tavern Keeper's skill tree. I have only heard what fighter trees are like."
"A mystery for another day," I shrugged, disappointed but not surprised. "Any suggestions? On what makes a good skill tree strategy? Like, should I max out one skill or keep them balanced?"
"I am not sure if being a Fighter is different than being A Tavern Keeper, but I find it best when all my skills are about even. I wouldn't want to be very good at making beer but have low levels in trade. Selling the beer is important for business, but so is the quality of beer."
I nodded. The HUD moving with my vision. I thought about it. I had no armour, so no point in finding out what that did. Unarmed didn't sound good. I didn't want to hit things directly. The idea of bunny brains on my fist or foot was disgusting. The obvious choice was to spend it under the Club skill tree.
The options were Swing, Hit or Block. I couldn't see what they unlocked after that. I could tell that there were other options listed but the were blurred. I wouldn't be able to read them till I took the preceding skill.
Trying not to over think it, I chose Hit as that seemed the most versatile. As soon as I confirmed the placement of my skill point, I could see two more skills pop up. Crippling Blow and Targeted Hit. Both of those sounded kinda badass. Oh now I only had 10XP. It seems that you lost what was needed to level up. At least I got to keep the overflow.
Richard was patiently waiting. I guess that wasn't that impressive since he was an NPC.
"Ok, I figured out how to spend my skill point. Um, how do I take things out of my inventory?" Ew, what if the greater rabbit ear was smelly?
"Simply concentrate on the item in your list. If your list isn't visible, pull it up by concentrating or using your finger to tap the inventory tab." He paused helpfully. "Then focus on the item you want and hold your hand up."
I thought about the ear and decided to skip that for now. Instead, I focused on the silver coins and held my palm up.
I felt the cool metal of the coins form in my hand. Now that was going to be handy if things were weightless in my inventory; that was much better than carrying this pack.
I clicked the HUD off with a stern thought towards the X in the top-most corner, pleased as I didn't want to have to be poking at the air every time I wanted to access information. I was relieved to be able to see clearly again. I looked down at the tarnished coins in my hand. They were big, at least to my eyes. The coins were thick and about three inches in diameter.
"How much is a room here for a night?" I asked, examining the image stamped on the coin. There was the king on one side; I assumed he was the king. He was wearing a kind of tall crown and had that stuck-up look. The other side was a tree.
"One night in the Inn with dinner is three coppers."
I clasped the coin in my hand. Feeling its heft. "How many coppers is a silver coin worth?"
"Five. Would you like to book a room?"
"Just one night. How much if you include breakfast?"
He smiled, "I might be willing to make a trade. Are you headed towards the city?"
I had no reason not to be headed towards anything in particular. Wherever I was most likely to meet other real people was good, but I didn't know where that would be. Though there might be multiple cities around. I needed a map.
Richard did a little flip of his hand, and a letter appeared. I must have looked startled as my reaction pleased him. "Sleight of hand. I learnt how to spot it in others. Some travellers try to take advantage of a simple peasant innkeeper. He looked troubled for a moment but then held the letter out.
"Agree to take this to the next village, and tomorrow's breakfast is on me."
I took the envelope.
YOU HAVE ACCEPTED A QUEST! Take this letter from Richard the Small to the blacksmith at Road's Cross.
Oh good. I hoped it paid well.
Once again, the bed was a down-filled mattress with relatively fine sheets. This wasn't at all appropriate to the apparent time period but I wasn't going to argue. Dinner had been a hearty stew with meaty chunks. A sort of cracked grain bread. It was dense but delicious when topped with the fresh butter. I was glad calories weren't real here.
They weren't right? That night I lay awake as long as I could; it was as if the beds were enchanted with a sleep spell, and wondered what the rules of this system were. Could I get fat? I still had to pee. I'd better not get my period. If I had sex, could I have a virtual pregnancy?
Drifting off, I thought I should see if there was a wiki or user manual in the HUD. I hadn't seen a Help or Contact Us section. I'd have to hunt for that too.
Richard laid out quite the breakfast spread in the morning. More fresh bread, rashers of bacon, eggs, and fruit. I thought it an odd choice for breakfast when he served me a small beer to drink. I asked for some of that delicious well water instead. I would have preferred my morning coffee, but it was what it was.
I went upstairs to pack to leave and put my pack in my inventory. It was interesting that all the items in my pack ended up taking up slots, though items of the same kind stacked. So I had one apple taking up a slot, but two buns taking another. Wait, where was my tent? I looked down. Seems it wouldn't go into my inventory. My bedroll was in there, though, and it was about the same size.
The slots must have some sort of rules as to what they will hold.
Scowling I pulled my pack back out so I could strap the tent roll on the bottom. Stupid game logic, the inventory system was not going to be as useful as I initially thought.
The road out of the village had looked peaceful enough, grass whispering in the breeze, sun warming my shoulders, birds cheerfully singing. My stomach was full, I was well rested, and I was on a quest.
Naturally, that's when the bushes exploded.
Another one of those hell bunnies barreled out of the forest like an arrow loosed straight for my heart.
"Of course," I muttered, dropping the pack from my shoulder. "Can't walk five minutes without running into something fluffy and homicidal."
This one looked meaner than the last, its six eyes glowing blood-red in the sun. It screamed as it bounded the last few paces to me.
But I wasn't the same Elizabeth who'd gotten body-slammed last time. I was now a Level One Fighter with a skill in Hit. I felt anger well up in me. I was going to show that rabbit.
This time, I planted my feet and lifted the club. My body felt different now—steadier. The "+3 Strength" wasn't just numbers on a screen. It thrummed down my arms. I grinned.
As the rabbit launched, I swung.
I—and the rabbit—found out what the skill Hit did.
The club moved faster than I expected, no, faster than should be possible and connected with the same sickening, meaty crack. A ripple of force shot down my arms, but instead of jarring me, I absorbed it. The rabbit twisted midair and crashed into the dirt with a single shriek, one of its fangs snapping loose and skittering away in the grass.
"Oh, hello skill system," I said, chest heaving. "Nice to finally meet you."
The rabbit staggered up, froth bubbling from its mouth, one eye blood-blurred but still locked on me. It darted forward again, faster than before, zig-zagging like a broken AI trying to confuse targeting.
I braced, swung again, but it juked left. Its teeth grazed my sleeve, tearing fabric, hot breath searing my arm. I smelled copper and fur. Rage flared in my heart
"Not today, Bugs."
It leapt, claws outstretched. I sidestepped, raised the club high, and brought it down with every ounce of newfound muscle. The HIT skill surged again, stronger this time, guiding my hands.
Impact.
The rabbit's skull split with a wet, cracking echo, its body flipping sideways under the blow. It lay twitching in the dirt, blood pooling dark and thick, squealing high and thin before sputtering into silence.
My club dripped gore, but this time I didn't vomit. My stomach clenched, sure—but I was standing tall, chest heaving, not crumpled in a heap of panic. The difference between the last fight and this one was night and day. The skill progression was no joke.
The familiar blaze of words seared across my vision:
7XP.
+1 Beast Haunch (food item).
+1 Greater Rabbit Ear (crafting material).
I prodded the corpse with my foot. Dead, gross. But while it was still disgusting it didn't affect me as much. Why? I was stronger, faster, and—dare I say it—getting better. But I felt uneasy thinking back to how I had felt fighting it. The fear I understood, but the anger?
Probably just the anger at being stuck in a stupid fucking game.