by Sergei Katz
— Greetings, traveler! Forgive us for such a reception. Believe me; we had serious cause to behave the way we did. Unfortunately, nobody can escape their fate... — the old man burst out with a sad sigh, that echoed through the crowd of people that had come to meet me.
The old man continued:
— Everyone who reaches the age of ten visits the forest fortune-teller, and she tells them what they need to know about their future. So that’s what Alex did.
Some emotion must have flashed across my face, because the old man responded to it.
— It was in your thoughts that this was his real name before, — he sighed again. — He was indeed called that before. Usually a fortune teller foretells one three things about their future. The first is when or where you will meet someone whom you are destined to love. Secondly, what profession you have a leaning towards. The last, and least popular one, is how many decades you are destined to celebrate in this world. That is our tradition, and every inhabitant of the village respects it. The fortune teller always tells us only one of the three, but in Alex’s case she told him two things, although it would be better if she said none...
—So, what did she say? — I asked to somehow keep this strange old man’s monologue alive.
— Forgive me, traveler, but this is a private affair of the village, and I cannot speak a word about it to you. However, here's what I can tell you ... — the old man clearly felt himself at a loss. — The given name, plus date and place of birth, are what affects the fate of the inhabitants of this world. Therefore, it was decided to change the boy's name, but, alas, this brought down Fate’s anger upon us all. Therefore, it was decided that the whole village would rely on Fate’s mercy and change our names. The fortune teller told us there was a chance that Fate would appreciate our sacrifice: after all, each of us was changing our destiny, at the risk of ruining it completely. So we started this whole game. We prepared and trained for a long time, and finally the hour had come when you entered the village and started giving us all new names ...
— To be honest: it was quite fun! — Someone shouted from the crowd, and for a brief moment, smiles returned to their sad faces.
— We left Alex to the very end, expecting that you would come up with some funny or strange name for him, or even an indecent one, anything but not Alex. Alas, you cannot escape Fate ...so be it. — The old man turned to the villagers. — We did everything we could. We will not anger Fate any longer. We took a chance, but it didn’t work out. Prepare for the festival, as we agreed. We will arrange a feast and pay tribute to the Newcomer who has given us our new names!
When everyone left, Whatthebleep turned to me:
— You know our names, — he said, and looked at me cunningly. — So, what is your name?
— Dee, — I smiled back.
— Well, that's a short and beautiful name. Almost like the short names of the Higher Fairies. That suits us just fine.
— Suits you for what? — I was piqued.
— The village without a name has been renamed the village of Dee.
— Are you serious?! — I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.
You have received the legendary reputation of “Godfather”.
You have given a name to each villager and a name to the entire village. Everything you give a name to becomes stronger.
— You are such a scoundrel! — I sighed, looking at the old man, who was happily going on his way.
Almost twenty paces away, he turned back and said:
— Go to the house with the painting of a loach fish. It has been prepared for you and your bird to stay the night. Tomorrow evening we will have a feast. In the meantime, get some rest.
CHAPTER 13:
EVERYTHING WILL
TURN OUT RIGHT
I found the house quickly, since the village was small, and I had examined it already when I was looking for differences between the houses. Not noticing a bell or a doorknob, I knocked on the door. No one responded, so I took matters into my own hands. I gently took the handle and opened the door.
There was nobody inside. I found myself in a small entrance hallway. Next, without waiting for an invitation, my Copper Wing friend flew inside, as if fully aware that everything was okay and there was no danger. I wasn’t sure how he knew that ... I would have to find out later.
I walked around the house: apart for the hallway, I found a small kitchen, a separate toilet with a bathroom, a dining room and a bedroom. In the dining room, there was a large table overflowing with food. While I was looking around the place, my Totem was silently and intently devouring his favorite foods. One small plate was already empty, so now I would never know what had been on it, and I was a curious fellow!
— Well, you rascal! — I grinned. — You should have waited for your partner.
My already overstuffed Totem looked at me with shame, as if to say, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t help myself”. At the same time, he continued to devour the contents of a second small plate. I lunged at the table and tried to grab the last piece from his plate, but the falcon had great reactions, and he managed to take it first.
— That’s quite enough! — I was mad. — Don’t ask me for any more yellow fruits until you make amends!
The bird knew that it had been in the wrong and made an attempt to suck up to me. Only by this moment he was so stuffed that he no longer had any proper coordination. As usual, my Totem wanted to rub himself against my arm, but I pulled it back before the falcon could reach it. He only understood what had happened when he lost his balance and fell off the table. Ignoring the offended bird, I started my meal. After finishing, I went to the bedroom, and as soon as my head touched the pillow, all the worry and anxiety evaporated and I fell asleep instantly.
In the morning, I was awakened by cockerels. It was still early, so I decided to read a little. Raising the pillow so that it was comfortable to lean on without getting out of bed, I made myself comfortable, and mentally instructed the book to appear.
“So, the first things I need are the basics ...” — After thinking this, I opened the book and asked it to provide me with the information that a teaching fairy was obliged to tell every Newcomer in this world. I spent an hour reading, but what I discovered didn’t help me much.
Firstly, it was possible to customize the interface. You could turn on the clock and adjust the settings to configure how the life points of any future opponents would be displayed. You could also set up information on any new race encountered and see their nicknames. Their true name, of course, was simply impossible to see. Naturally, even nicknames could be seen only if they weren’t hidden by special abilities, magic items or spells. The “Identification of creatures” ability I was given was designed more for fans of role-playing games, as well as the ability to determine the time and many other not crucial skills.
The book described what could be put in an invisible bag, and how to use it. There was a chapter on fatigue and another on basic traits. There were advices on many other things too, which would have been useful to know in the very first minutes of my arrival in the world. None of this was now applicable to me. The only useful information I learned was how to turn on the map and the compass. This was, of course, a skill that I could learn to use to see directions, but, in my opinion, this was a bit too much.
— Okay, that's all clear to me. Now I need to try to learn a little more. Book, tell me what could the fairy tell me if I asked her?
Text appeared in the middle of a blank page. It read, “except for compulsory knowledge, I can only answer specific questions”.
— What the BLEEP! What’s the use to have a book like this? — I cried out angrily.
Then I cooled down a little and added:
— Well okay, I overreacted. Of course, there is definitely a point to the book, so I just need to think of specific questions to ask.
I tried to ask the book tricky questions, but I got the same cunning and unhelpful answers.
I ask
ed:
— What’s the easiest way to find money?
The book replied that you can, for example, sell something, get a job, or open a business.
Then I asked:
What is the best class to have?
I got hundreds of pages of text explaining the advantages of different classes, depending on lots of variables, including the seasons and how hungry I was. At one point, it seemed to me that the book was literally taking pleasure in answering my stupid questions.
Your “Intuition” ability has increased: +1% (31%).
“Yeah, thanks, programmers. Very amusing! I realize that I am not capable of asking the right questions at all, because I have too little information to go on. However ... I do have one question ...” — I thought.
So, I asked out loud:
— What are the different stages of development of abilities?
I was very surprised to receive a normal response.
As it was written in the book:
“Abilities develop in stages:
beginner;
practitioner;
craftsman;
master craftsman;
grand master.
An ability begins with the 1st level and can grow to infinity.
Exceptions and permutations of different abilities are possible.
* More information on this topic will not be provided at the moment.”
— To infinity! The programmers that designed the skills have definitely lost their BLEEP minds! — I shouted out.
And then I thought about it: “The higher the level of ability is, the more difficult it is to improve upon it. With all my desire to develop my abilities as much as possible, developing each one will become more and more difficult with time. If someone sets himself a goal to develop only one or two abilities, he will be able to achieve a serious level of success, but he will become terribly lopsided and vulnerable. So, perhaps my decision is not as crazy as it seems. Just being awarded a new ability is clearly not that straightforward. A note of warning that I don’t need to know any more yet makes me wonder how much of this information is actually useful to me. It seems to me that the book only pretended to mock me, but actually edited the knowledge so that it doesn’t give me anything!”
Your “Intuition” ability has increased: +1% (32%).
— If I dared to then I would burn this book! Wait, what am I talking about? Darling, you have helped me so much! — I even stroked the spine of the book to sound more believable.
The book was filled with uncertainty. The cheeky textbook couldn’t understand in any way, where it had miscalculated and inadvertently helped me. I quietly celebrated, and the fairy book started raging more and more. Deciding that I’d had enough revenge for one day, and deciding not to spoil relations with the potentially useful book any further, I explained my thoughts to the book:
— Thanks to you, I have increased my Intuition ability by 2% in just a couple of minutes, — I smiled, looking at the BLEEP textbook. — Thank you. Now go and get some rest.
I mentally instructed the book to disappear.
It seemed to me that I had given the book something to think about. If I didn’t know for sure that anything was possible in this game, I would surely think that I was losing my mind.
— Now, let's see by how much my abilities have increased on my way to the village, — I said out loud, as I started looking at my characteristics.
My strength had finally reached 15 points, and now the weight that I was able to carry was in the ratio 1: 2 kg (30), which to me, with what I had collected inside my bag was of no advantage at all. Also, my resistance to physical attacks had increased by 2.5% (37.5) per each unit of force. The increase in weapons skill was 2% (30) worth of damage for each unit of force. My “Stamina” had increased by +1 (16), “Precision” had increased by +3 (13) and “Reflexes” had improved +3 (14). My other abilities had also increased: “Sword mastery” had reached 15 points, and I had received a +1% bonus to damage from swords for each skill unit. Also “Easy Step” had increased by +1 (15), and I could receive a +1% extra bonus per unit if I left no tracks behind. But unfortunately, “Quiet Step” skill was one point below reaching the bonus level at +3 (14).
— Okay, that’s enough reading for today. It's time to take a look around the village. Maybe, there will be more quests for me to accomplish, and I also need to find a store, — I decided.
I jumped off the bed, fully clothed from the day before and went outside. My Copper Wing had flown away the previous evening on some business of his own. I was certain that he would be back in time for the evening feast. Would this bird miss something delicious to eat? Not in this life!
I looked around: my house was closer to the edge than to the center of the village, which was constructed in a square shape with rounded corners. Four streets began in the central square, and each led to one compass point. The villagers couldn’t be bothered giving them complicated names, so they just called them South, North, West and East Streets. Each street had approximately the same number of houses. It was easy, simple and functional. At this moment, a huge table was being erected on the central square: it was immediately evident that it wasn’t the first time that the villagers had done this. Everyone knew exactly what to do, so instead of receiving instructions and commands, everyone was joking around and having conversations on various fun topics. Especially popular was the discussion of their new names.
I stopped one of the women who was passing by:
— Is there a store in the village? — I asked.
— Of course there is. Go to the end of North Street; it’s a house with a large cart in the courtyard, — she answered readily.
I thanked the woman and went off in the direction she had indicated. There was indeed a huge cart in the courtyard of the last house. I hadn’t noticed it before merely because I had entered the village from the south. To my surprise, a carved wooden doorknob in the shape of a horseshoe was hanging over the door! At my knock a totally bald man came out wearing a magnificent mustache.
“He is the spitting image of Obelix from the cartoon!” — I could hardly restrain a smile.
His name was notable: Heyyoubaldy. I even remembered how it had happened: he threw something heavy at me and it hit me on the leg. What was odd was that he only inherited a part of my foul-mouthed outburst, while the rest of it went to somebody else, because he had disappeared from view before I was finished with him.
— Hello, Dee, — Heyyoubaldy grinned. — Show me what you have for sale. — He opened the door and let me in.
— Thank you, — I smiled.
Heyyoubaldy walked behind the counter and looked at me expectantly. I laid out the spears and all the skins collected during my walk through the forest from my collection.
— So, what do you want for this stuff? In this village we only barter products. We only use money when dealing with trading with visiting merchants or outside the village.
“What a scoundrel! He knows very well that I need money!” — I grimaced wryly.
The fact was that I didn’t even know the value of things that I had offered yet. The designers of the game decided to make everything realistic. So, no prices for goods had been specified, unless you already had experience in buying and selling.
“Okay,” — I made my decision. — “What I am about to do will put me in an even more complicated position, and give the merchant the green light to make a fool out of me. Unfortunately, this is the best option open to me.
— It's a pity, — I sighed. — I really need some money, because I arrived in this world penniless.
— Let's do it this way, — the merchant smiled, convinced that he had me where he wanted. — What you brought, I'll exchange, and trust me, you don’t even know how much stuff you need. Then I’ll have a mission for you, and I'm ready to pay for it in cash. Well, do we have a deal?
— I promise nothing, — I cooled the merchant's fervor a little. — If I find what I need, and I am satisf
ied with the terms of the trade, then the answer is yes. Otherwise I can always find another merchant.
Realizing that I, of course, was a Newcomer to this world, but not a fool, the merchant became disappointed. Instead, it was my mood that improved, and I proceeded to examine the goods on offer.
After examining everything that the merchant had to offer, I chose a flask made from the stomach of a lizard (the merchant assured me that it would hold two liters of liquid, and, whatever it was, the taste and quality of the drink would not deteriorate for years).
In addition, I took two types of flint. In fact, they were two different crystals: “Fire crystal” and “Kriy crystal”, and they didn’t need to be struck against each other. The principle is this: you put them side by side and they heat up instantly. The crystals themselves didn’t burn, so they could be used many times. If the crystals got separated, they immediately cooled down. They came with a rod known as a “Pruta Tel” which was made from a metal alloy that didn’t get hot. The rod was used to separate the crystals again. It would come in handy - until I learned how to start a fire, the crystals would be invaluable to me.
The final thing the merchant allowed me to choose was a small travel pot. Even though I had a feeling that the merchant was trying to cheat me, I still traded the items that I had no use for, for the ones that I had chosen. Both of us appeared to be satisfied.
— What kind of mission were you talking about?
— Nothing tricky for a Newcomer, — Heyyoubaldy grinned. — You need to go deep into the forest, where you'll find a small quagmire. There is a type of herb growing around this quagmire.
— You didn’t want to pay for the spears and skins, but you are prepared to pay for some herb which is easy to find. Is that it? — I pretended to be surprised.
— Well, you know, there are some dangerous beasts out there. I'm afraid to go myself, because I'm not a warrior. Also, I need the herb before this evenings feast. Every villager is supposed to bring a special dish to the feast, and the one who brings the best one will be the winner of the culinary competition. I have been trying to win the title for years, but I kept losing to our local herbalist. She always wins. This time I have a very rare cooking recipe, and the only thing I am missing for it is the succulent known as curly grass. If this feast hadn’t been declared so suddenly, I would ask one of our hunters to gather some, but they are all busy.
