The bandits took the direction directly opposite from where they claimed the city was, laughing and whooping as they made away with Stein's money.
Stein rubbed his hands on his clothing, trying to get rid of the smear of blood the girl had left on them.
He hadn't spent up to ten minutes in Raazaham and he already hated it, but a part of him was also excited.
So many possibilities, so much to explore.
He turned to the supposed direction of the city and saw only sand.
"Menu."
The list flashed into existence again.
Stein wanted to reach out with his hand and touch the
Stein's lips curled into a smile. His mother was the source of his quirky nickname.
She had liked to call him her Little Einstein, then it became Little Stein, then just Stein. He decided not to alter the Alias.
He was looking for a 'back' icon when the menu reverted to the original section. The system seemed to respond to thoughts too.
Stein then intended to check out his stats, and the
Not bad, he thought. He used to be on the track team and was quite fast. He was skinny and rarely had enough to eat, so he wasn't surprised about his Strength and Vitality.
As for Dexterity and Accuracy, he was naturally good at things like that. He developed accurate muscle memory pretty quickly, and his proficiency in physics seemed to help. Magic Prowess probably started at 0 for everyone.
Stein snapped out of his thoughts. Right now, he had to get to a city before he got dehydrated and died. The one stat that would help was Agility.
He willed the Agility stat to expand, and it did.
Stein allocated 7 points to Agility, bringing it to a total of 15.
The effect was immediate. It started with his heart pounding harder, then a sharp pain shot through his entire body as certain muscles began twitching and reforming.
His ribs stretched and expanded, making space for his growing lungs. The change lasted only a few seconds before his body stilled.
Stein jumped up and down a few times. His legs felt like springs, easily taking him to heights he could never reach before.
Breathing was so effortless, and he felt like he needed less oxygen than he did previously. Was this what athletes felt like?
His excitement didn't distract him from the fact that his throat was already dry and he was still sweating buckets. If he wanted to make it to the city alive, he needed to start walking right away.
A groan drew his attention. Stein glanced at where the first boy lay and saw him sobbing. He considered walking up to the boy but soon discarded the idea.
He didn't need some weak, broke kid holding him back.
Stein started in the direction of the city but stopped. A sigh escaped his lips. He knew it was illogical, but his conscience wouldn't let him. He wasn't that hard. Not yet.
He turned back and stomped over to the boy.
"Hey, you!"
The boy flinched, shielding his face with his hands.
"If you want to live, get up and walk." Stein tried to sound harsh. Compassion would just make the boy even more distraught.
The boy lowered his hands, seemingly realizing Stein posed no threat.
"There's a city ahead," Stein pointed. "I don't know how far away it is, but if I were you, I would get moving."
Stein lifted a finger at the boys face. "And stop crying. That's water you're wasting."
With that, he turned and left.
"Wait," a weak voice called out behind him. "Don't leave me."
Stein gritted his teeth and kept walking. He had played his part. The boy would only slow him down.
As time went on, Stein began to question whether the city was actually in the direction the bandits pointed at, but it made sense that she and her crew would move in the opposite direction.
They were outlaws; the city was no place for them. Even still, the nagging suspicion that he was being played and led to die remained.
It would be brilliant: rob new adventures, or brownies as they were called, and direct them away from the city so they couldn't seek payback.
You could even convince yourself that you weren't responsible for their death.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that he was being played.
The smart thing would be to find shelter and walk at night when it was cool, but Stein didn't have that option.
After walking for just half an hour, everything burned: his skin, throat, chest, and even his feet.
The thick brown boots he had spawned with quickly proved themselves incapable of providing proper insulation against the heat. His head hurt and his clothes were soaked in sweat.
He turned back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy from earlier, only to see nothing but the unending carpet of dirt. He gritted his teeth and kept moving
To say he was thirsty was an understatement. Being under the punishing heat of the sun had also weakened him greatly.
If not for the extra Agility stats, he would have long collapsed. He still felt like he could go on for now.
The situation was incredibly stupid—dumping him in the middle of nowhere with no guide. How was he supposed to survive?
To lose his life because of a bout of bad luck would be infuriating.
Just as dread was setting in, Stein's eyes picked up strange shapes far ahead of him. He didn't pay much attention at first; it could just be his imagination.
He kept walking, and after a few minutes he was sure it wasn't his imagination. There were strange, dirt-colored structures. The bandits hadn't lied about the town, but it was still so far away.
Another thirty minutes passed, and Stein's lips cracked. Every part of him hurt. There was barely any sweat on him now, his body was trying to conserve water.
The only thing keeping him moving was the sight of the city ahead. Like a Zombie his hands hung low with hunched shoulders as he kept matching forward.
The sandy desert began to sway beneath his feet, making him fall to his knees. The hot sand burned his hands as he struggled to his feet.
He was so close. If he could just hold on for another thirty minutes, he was certain he would reach it.
Stein felt like crying when he was finally before the city wall. Unfortunately, there was not a single drop of tears left in his eyes.
A system notification flashed before his eyes.