by Eric Ugland
“Do not touch the books until you have purchased them,” Gideon said.
“Got it,” I replied. I had the feeling some dastardly customer in the past attempted to learn the spell before paying.
“And you must learn them in the shop. You may not leave with the books.”
Again, something that made sense. Impossible to get caught selling banned books if the books disappeared after reading.
Gideon tilted the lockbox on the side, and ran his finger down the spines, occasionally stopping to read off titles.
“Skill book - pickpocketing, three hundred gold.”
“Yes.”
He set it on the counter.
“Spellbook - minor illusion. Fifty gold.”
“Sure?”
He set the book on the counter.
“Spellbook - light. One hundred gold.”
“Nope.”
“Spellbook - frostbite. One hundred fifty gold.”
“No, thanks.”
“Spellbook - prestidigitation. One hundred gold.”
“What’s that do?”
“We have limited knowledge of the spell, but I believe it allows for a minor magical effect near the caster.”
“I’ll pass on that.”
“Spellbook - summon familiar. Three hundred gold.”
“Can I afford that?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take it.”
He set the book on the counter next to the other two, then returned his attention to the box of books. He was silent until he came to the last two.
“Skill book - stealth. One hundred gold.”
“Definitely.”
“Spellbook - shadow step. Five hundred gold.”
I whistled. “Can I afford it?”
Gideon stared at me for a moment, then he nodded.
“We will make it possible.”
“A discount?” I asked with a smile.
“Yes,” he replied with a slight head bow, “for being a new customer so willing to provide us new goods.”
“Thank you.”
“We are pleased with your custom.”
“Uh, thanks. So the clothes and books and weapons. How much do I have left in my account?”
“Thirty gold.”
That went fast.
I picked the books and went through them on the quick.
Cool Beans, you’ve learned the skill Pickpocketing. Now you can snatch stuff from within pockets that aren’t yours. Significantly harder to detect while stealing items from pockets or worn pouches.
Cool Beans, you’ve learned the skill Stealth. Be sneaky! Move around in silence! Tip toe up to giants and dragons. You’re totally going to start stealing stuff now, aren’t you? +10% harder to detect.
Then I got these other notifications:
Innate levels of skills detected, balancing.
Pickpocketing - LVL 24
Stealth - LVL 22
And that was awesome, a big stupid grin spread across my face. I was getting credit for the crap I’d done in the other world.
Look at that, you’ve learned the spell: Minor Illusion
Minor Illusion allows you to create a single sound or a single image of an object that does not move. The illusion may be placed anywhere within a one hundred foot circle centered on the caster. The illusion lasts for one minute, or until the caster dismisses the spell. The sound may repeat, but it may not be a different discrete sound. The image must not move, and cannot create any sensory effects. It must fit within a five foot cube. At higher levels, you may make additional minor illusions for longer periods of time.
Look at that, you’ve learned the spell: Summon Familiar
Summon familiar allows you to gain the service of a spiritual, fiend, fey, or another unworldly animal in the form of your choosing. Your familiar operates as an individual separate from you, but will always obey your commands. As long as you are able to maintain eye contact, you may communicate telepathically with your familiar.
Look at that, you’ve learned the spell: Shadow Step
Shadow Step allows you entrance into the Shadow Realm for one second.
“And we are done,” Gideon said, making all of the items I sold disappear amongst the stuff behind him. “A good day.”
18
It was a calm walk back towards my new home. A strange sort of concept for me. And a home I owned. An even stranger concept. I'd never owned any property. The biggest thing I owned was a car, a car worth less than the POS that was my gaming rig. I enjoyed the walk, especially because it was a straight shot to my home. But I had sense of the size of the city, and I knew I’d be getting lost in the future. Just glad it wasn’t on my first night. I smiled at the guards manning the Old Town gate, and wondered if they ever closed it.
I stopped across the street from the tavern, and leaned against a stoop. I took a moment to watch the pedestrian traffic flow past. There were no lights on in any of the apartments in my building. Which was different than other buildings. I wondered if Etta’d been concerned about appearances. Did I need to be? What was the story I'd tell people when they asked how I came to own the building? That was definitely more important than wondering about silly things like lights and windows. I decided I'd wait to go into the tavern until I knew my backstory. I’ve never been a big fan of lying; I think it gets you in more trouble than it ever solves. But this wasn't really going to be something that was investigated carefully. Hopefully. It needed to be simple, close to a truth, and ultimately rather boring.
Boring was key.
As soon as I had a good idea, I walked across the road, dodging some mystery animal poop on the way, and strode into the Heavy Purse with a smile on my face.
It was almost a different bar because it was packed. The bar itself was packed so tightly that most people, I’d say 90 percent, were standing sideways, with one hand on the bar and on their beer. All the tables were full, and there were plenty of people standing around the edge of the place holding tankards of beer. Or ale. Or both, who knows. It was incredibly loud, and someone was singing and playing the lute in the corner. A bard.
I shook my head and backed out of the pub. There was no chance I’d be able to talk to the barkeep, and, frankly, I wasn’t sure there was much of a point in just having a drink. I needed to look at my home.
The door to the apartments was on the side of the building facing the less-busy of the two streets. It was nestled between the tavern and the neighboring building, and the staircase acted, I imagine, as a slight noise barrier between them. Our neighbor, at least on the street level, was a baker. The place had already shut down for the day, which made sense, bakers probably started super early in the morning. I idly wondered if the baker also served coffee. Which then made me wonder if coffee was a beverage in this land. And then I wondered if I should even open the can of worms that coffee was, my new body wasn’t yet addicted to coffee or anything, should I go down that road again? Ultimately a question for another day, I decided.
I pulled open the leather envelope to see what my benefactor had left me. There was a deed to the building, a note addressed to a Titus Calpernus, a concise letter addressed to me, and a bunch of keys. The letter was mainly a list of the various traps and how to undo them. Etta was one paranoid rogue. There was a moment of confusion. I don’t know why I expected more. I doubt she’d written this specifically for me, but, well, I guess I thought she’d have left some measure of a personal message. In retrospect, that wasn’t at all her style.
The key took a little finagling before it fit, and then a bit of loving before it turned in the lock. The door needed some pushing, and the hinges were definitely squeaking, but I figured that was acceptable considering the place had to be pretty damn old. I had the feeling the bulk of the buildings in the Old Town area were built when it was just Town. So, you know, a hundred plus years old.
In front of me was a massively long staircase. It went up all the way to the roof and there looked to be a landing at each floor.
Certainly not the best use of space, really, but I wasn’t about to hop into home improvement. Though I definitely felt a hankering for some HGTV.
I walked up the stairs, listening to them creak until I got to the first landing. I unlocked the second floor apartment, and I peeked inside. It was basically empty. I had the feeling that Etta’d used the first-floor apartment as a storage area because there were several crates and barrels scattered around. There was furniture in the place, but it was all out of place, and there was a bit more of it than you’d typically put in a single-family apartment. Like four bed frames, eight dressers, stacks of tables and chairs. There was even a stack of mattresses leaning against one wall. The only thing that seemed purposefully placed was the one wardrobe that hid the secret ladder. I went through the quick steps Etta had laid out in her note, and that theoretically disabled the traps in all three apartments. Or, at least, most of the traps.
The third-floor apartment was set up to be her training area. The bulk of the apartment was set up like a parkour course, ropes hung from the ceiling, and along one wall was an archery range.
Finally, the top apartment was where the bed and kitchen and fireplace were. All the stuff you’d use for actual living. I put my bag down on the bed, pulled my cloak and stuff off. And then I went all the way down the stairs and locked the front door to the place. And locked all the other doors as well. There was the part of me that wondered if Etta had been paranoid, or if she’d been right about things. If she had a reason to be scared.
It had been a busy first day, and I felt tired. Not bone-tired, but just, well, that I’d done a lot. And that maybe a rest might be nice. I sat down on my bed, trying not to think about all the daggers still hidden in it, and I had a cold glass of water, and looked at my full character sheet for the first time.
Clyde Hatchett - Lvl 4 Rogue
Traits
Race: Elf of the Sun and Moon
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 195 lbs
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Blonde
Renown:
Statistics
HP: 110
STAM: 295
MP: 236
Armor: None
Active Effects: None
Attributes
Strength: 10
Agility: 14
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 10
Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 14
Charisma: 17
Luck: 13
Unassigned points: 6
Skills
Lockpicking (LVL 15)
Silent Movement (LVL 25)
Eavesdropping (LVL 18)
Pickpocketing (LVL 24)
Stealth (LVL 22)
Abilities
None
Feats
None
Boons
None
Indicium
None
Titles
None
Relationships
None
Languages
Imperial Common
Plains Tauren
Spells
Lifeform Identification (Lvl 1) (costs 1 mana) Identify uncommon or lower lifeforms.
Basic Object Identification (Lvl 1)
Minor Illusion (Lvl 1)
Summon Familiar (Lvl 1)
Shadow Step (Lvl 1)
I had a lot of empty spots in my character sheet. And six points to toss towards my attributes. I hadn’t noticed anything particularly lacking in myself during my singular day. I decided a little more dexterity and agility would probably be useful.
Attributes
Strength: 10
Agility: 18
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 10
Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 14
Charisma: 17
Luck: 13
Unassigned points: 0
I really considered just going to bed, and as I sat there with my glass of water, I realized I’d completely forgotten to give Gideon the damn account coin I’d gotten from Etta’s murderer.
“Dammit, Clyde,” I said out loud.
I laid down, ready to yell at myself some more, but Etta’s words echoed in my head, that we didn’t need as much sleep, but if we gave in, we’d lose that advantage. I knew I needed whatever advantages I could come up with. If this was a game, and it certainly seemed like it followed the rules of a game, I should probably just treat it like a game. An advantage could be the thing that catapulted me above my competitors. Living in a city, I had to have a lot of competitors. I hopped out of bed.
I had to get to grinding.
19
I stripped down to just pants and went down to the training area. It was time to get a gauge of what my new elven body was capable of, and that meant putting myself through my paces. As I stood there, shirtless, admiring the smooth new skin I had, skin that was the best skin I’d ever possessed in my life, not a single blemish, and no sign of the acne that’d scarred my teen years, I wished I had some sort of musical device. Working out had never been the most regular occurrence in my life, but when I’d gone to gyms, I’d done my best work when I’d had music to bump to. But that wasn’t going to be a thing here. I mean, I suppose I could hire a bard to sing along as I worked out, but I was willing to bet I didn’t have the budget for that. And would local bards have the right kind of music for pumping iron? Or would it be sweating to the real oldies?
Closing my eyes, I did a little jumping up and down, shaking my arms, and imagining the song I wanted to hear. Getting the song stuck in my head was my version of a boombox.
And then I started.
I sprinted towards the course, tried to vault a four foot high set of crates, missed my hand placement, and crashed to the ground.
It was going to be a long night.
And it was. I pushed myself. Partly because it felt so good. I liked what I was doing. The slipping between obstacles, the sliding under stuff, jumping over stuff. Wall jumps, pull-ups, slides, hurdles, all of it. And, somewhere in the wee hours of the night, after I’d had to stop and rest, to let my stamina bar refill, I got a notification that was worth all the pain and trouble.
Cool Beans, you’ve unlocked the innate skill Parkour (LVL 15). Now you can run and jump and play in the urban jungle, just like a squirrel. Don’t you wish you were a squirrel? -5% fall damage. +5% skill.
Boom. That was a game-changer. A huge smile spread across my face, and I knew I was getting that super sweet dopamine hit. I was happy. Joyful. There was something so fantastical about getting a notification of the moment you improved. Or, in this case, gained a skill. I knew my work had paid off, and that was such a fantastic feeling. It made doing the work easy. Well, not easy, but easier.
I threw myself into the course over and over again, bottoming out my stamina bar over and over again, occasionally dropping hit points because I was so exhausted. But I kept getting those notices. My skills were improving. And I even got this:
Boom! The hard work has paid off, your stamina has increased by 25%.
It was beautiful. Whatever lingering doubts I had about this new world, about my new life, all of that just disappeared. The ability to get confirmation about hard work paying off was such a difference-maker.
And my stamina recovered quickly, fast enough that I never needed that much downtime, something I realized Etta must have known because she had several books tucked on a small bookshelf in a corner right near the water spigot. Which was also a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t expected anything like running water in Glaton, and yet, here it was. Running water and a toilet system. There was actually a full bathroom in place, a rudimentary shower, a two-level pull chain style toilet, and a small sink. Was this a luxury? Something Etta had put in? Or was it commonplace? And how did it work? How was water pumped up? Clearly not machinery, there was definitely no electrical power. Magic? So many questions in this world. But that little bookshelf was next to a small sink and a mug. I drank wa
ter, and I read over the books.
Nothing overly complicated, they were mostly books on history and travel. Limited though it was. I grabbed the Imperial History Primer and gave it a perusal.
The Empire of Glaton started in the city of Glaton before the city was a city, back when it was little more than a village and wasn't even called Glaton. Waves of armies marched from the south and from the west, throwing themselves against the people of this small city. One day, a woman showed up, she didn’t say where from, but she was willing to be a hero, and she fought back army after army. Before her, the walls were held up by the blood of the defenders. Now, this newcomer eschewed the walls and fought on the field, pushing the enemies back. She pushed them back further and further, eventually marching south, conquering every village and castle along the way until she controlled all the territory from Glaton to the coast. And then she turned her army east and continued her conquest. She conquered land for five years until the foundations of the Empire were built. Once she felt she had some room to work, the mystery woman returned to Glaton, proclaimed it her capital, and began transforming the lawless lands she had conquered into an actual country. She built forts and roads. She made a professional army, put together the constitution that bound the country, and she made the first Senate. Every aspect of the Empire of Glaton was put together by this one woman over a thousand years ago.
