Chapter 6

To Bravely Venture Forth, Timidly

After meditating to gain Mana faster and resting for a while on the roadside, Jay stood again. It was bothersome, but he had to remember to check his Mana more often. Being aware of how much he had left could be vital if he was around hostile creatures. If he had depleted his Mana and fallen—like he just did—outside the walls he would most likely have died. 'Claudine, could you keep an eye on how much Mana I have and tell me when I have less than 10% left? Or rather... View Mana... can I move around this screen to always have it in my view, yet not be intruding on what I'm looking at?'

Yes, Jay, Claudine said. If you want I can move the Mana Screen for you to hang in the corner of your field of view at all times. This way you will only see the Mana-bar, not the specific numbers, but it should be enough for you to at least have an approximate knowledge about how much Mana you still have left.

Thanks, Jay thought back, watching as the 'Mana Screen' jumped to the lower right corner of his field of view; when he looked around, the Screen followed and did not impede his vision much.

During their exchange, Jay had arrived at Bluth's General Store. He walked inside, and up to the counter where Bluth stood. “I'm back Bluth, and have delivered the package to the Herbalist's Guild. I even got a job from them. Here's a note from Hyren.” Jay handed the note to Bluth.

“Well,” Bluth said, his gruff voice clearly not surprised. “That's good. It was sort of the reason I sent you there. In part, at least. Here's your reward.” Bluth pushed two dark, almost black, iron coins toward Jay

Quest Completed! You have earned 100 Experience Points.

You have advanced to Level 2.

“Yes!” Jay exclaimed. “Thank you, Bluth. And now, for business. I'd like to buy food for 1 iron coin. What food gives the most Stamina for the least amount of money? And if I buy it in bulk can I get a discount?”

“The cheapest food I have are Large Traveling Biscuits. Here, have a look.” Bluth brought out a large flat piece of dark brown bread; it was hard enough to make a clanking sound when it hit the counter. “It doesn't taste good, but it keeps for close to a year and gives a fair amount of Stamina for its low price. I'll give you twenty for an iron coin.”

Observe. Jay had to look at the bread before deciding if he actually should go find a bakery, but he didn't want to do that. Night was descending rapidly and he didn't believe any would be open at this time. And he wanted to be out of the city as soon as the sun rose, so it would be best if he could do all his shopping at Bluth's store.

Large Nourishing Traveling Bread (250g) (Expires in: 196 days 17 hours) The hard brown bread made from corn and barley is barely palatable, yet edible. It is a good bread for long travels because of how long it takes to become inedible. Increases Stamina by 40. Increases HP Regeneration by 4HP per minute for 15 minutes.

These pieces of bread are a lot better than those I got from the Beginner's Guild. I should have sold those and bought food for that money, Jay thought. Though it didn't matter now, it rankled slightly to have missed such an opportunity. After sporadically eating them, he had a two of the biscuits he got from the Beginner's Guild left; maybe he could try selling those? He brought out the biscuits and showed them to Bluth. “Will you buy these or trade them for one Large Nourishing Traveling Bread?"

“No, why would I? Those aren't worth anything to me.”

Ah, it's like that, Jay thought. It seemed that not everything could be sold, and only things that the other party wanted or could sell with a mark-up would actually be possible to sell. This made it quite difficult to actually know what was worth keeping and not. How would he know what to keep when he hunted monsters later? He didn't know, but it was something to keep in mind, it would be good to know what specific things gave most from what kind of creature. Maybe there was some sort of guide-book for that? Or maybe Claudine knew? He had to ask her later.

“I also need sewing needles, or nails, maybe metal pins might work too. Do you have any?”

“Yes,” Bluth said. “I have needles and pins, made from bone, copper, iron, brass and steel. I have nails made from iron and steel too, but you can't afford a box of those. If all you have is your remaining iron coin.”

“Can I see the copper and iron pins? And what are their prices?”

Bluth brought out a box of each and put a pin on top of each box. “The box of copper pins costs ten copper, and the box of iron pins cost 18 copper. There are fifty pins in each box.”

Looking at the pins, Jay saw that the iron pins weighed less. He figured it must be because iron was less likely to bend than copper and there wasn't a need to make them as thick. It was perfect for his Mana Manipulation Needle Shot; he had to think of a better name for that technique later. “I want four boxes of iron pins. And now, with the bread, I've spent 1 iron and 72 copper coins. Do you, by any chance, have anything that can raise my Strength a little? Just by a point or two would be enough. And the item can't cost more than 60 copper coins.”

“I do have a pair of boots that raises Strength by 2, but their price is 80 copper coins,” Bluth said, scratching his head. “But I guess I can lower the cost a little since you're buying other stuff. And you did a favor for me earlier too. Okay, this is the deal then? Instead of 2 iron coins you get 20 pieces of Large Nourishing Traveling Bread, four boxes of iron pins and these pair of shoes.” Bluth brought out a pair of rugged leather boots, one of the boots had a small hole at the front, making it likely a toe or two would stick out. “And you give me 20 copper coins. Do we have a deal?”

Jay brought out almost all of his last few coins and put them on the counter. “Yes, here you go. And thank you once again for introducing me to the Herbalist's Guild. I will start with the work I got from them as soon as the sun rises.”

“Good,” Bluth said. “It's nice to see young people wanting to work. And even if its trivial work, it still helps out. If you ever have anything to sell, come see me again. I'm open from dawn til dusk.

“And another little tip for you. If you want to buy large quantities of food or something that is a bit specialized, go to their guild or specialized store. If you go to the bakery you can buy bread cheaper than here. At least if you buy a lot or want something other than traveling food. I only sell food that have a long shelf-life since I need to be sure to make a profit."

“Thanks for the tip, I will remember it,” Jay said, putting 18 pieces of bread and 3 boxes of pins in his inventory; the rest went in his yellow bag. Looking at his new shoes, he silently said: Observe.

Lesser Rugged Leather Shoes (836g) Defense: 3 Durability: 8 / 18 Worn rugged leather shoes. A hole at the front of the right foot gives good ventilation, but reduces the Defense by 1. If repaired its Defense will increase. Increases Strength by 2 Increase Movement Speed by 1% Requires 5 Dexterity to use Requires 5 Strength to use

It seems I can't use the shoes yet, Jay thought. But he had leveled up, and should have gotten a few points to use in his Stats, so he could always raise his Strength and Dexterity if he wanted. But before he did that he would try and raise the Stats naturally during the night. He now had enough food for an intense training session. If he ate and used meditation when he lost all his stamina he could extend his training to several hours before he even used up half his food. And that was what he had decided to do. He left the store. “See you later, Bluth. I'll be back if I get something to sell. You'll buy anything, right?”

“Almost anything, yes,” Bluth said, waving his hand.

Outside the store Jay felt invigorated. He had spent almost all his money, but he now had resources to train and to fight. 200 pins would make it possible for him to try his Needle Shot enough times that he might learn a Skill or Spell from using it. When he had tried shooting the rat he had made an extreme overkill, so he hoped that he could lessen his Mana consumption by shooting the pin earlier than he had when he attacked the rat. He had, after all, charged all his Mana into the needle's momentum before releasing it. Maybe he could lessen how much Mana he charged and still be able to kill creatures with just one shot. He felt that his home-made Skill truly had potential.

It didn't take long until he found a suitable place to exercise. Finding a stone for each of his hands, he held them as he ran around a fountain in a circle. Using 'Mana Manipulation', he floated a couple of grains of magnetite in front of him, the Mana used by the Spell using slightly more than what his Mana Regeneration could replenish. He paused only when he had to eat, drink and meditate; and had decided to do this until the sky started to turn a light blue.

The night wore on, and soon day began showing itself.

During the night's extended training session he had gotten 3 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 1 Endurance and 1 Vitality. Not to mention the several levels his 'Meditation' Skill and 'Mana Manipulation' Spell had advanced. He could only call his training session a complete success. He didn't even need his 'Enduring Willpower' anymore to walk around and do normal things. It was beyond great. He must have had this idea when he created his character. It was easier than he had thought to gain the physical attributes when they were as low as his. And he had only eaten a couple of his Large Nourishing Traveling Bread.

After putting on his new shoes, Jay walked toward the nearest city wall, looking at his Stat Screen. It was time to think about where to put his Stats from leveling up and then go outside the city to gather those String Herbs.

Name	Jay
Race	Human
Profession	None
Title	Idiot Savant
Level	2
Experience (to Next Level) (% to Next Level)	195 (5) (5.00%)
Alignment	0 (Neutral)
Fame	0 (Unknown)
Charisma	0
Leadership	0
Health (Max) (%regen/min)	230 (230) (1.08%Regen)
Mana (Max) (%Regen/min)	1360 (1360) (1,80%Regen)
Strength	8 (8%)
Dexterity	6 (32%)
Endurance	5 (24%)
Vitality	4 (79%)
Perception	10 (2%)
Wisdom	40 (11%)
Intelligence	16 (61%)
Willpower	7 (14%)
Available Stats:	8
Defense	5.04 (*100.6%)
Stamina (Max) (% Consumption)	133 (140) (99.3%)
Hydration (Max) (% Consumption)	597 (700) (99.6%)
Weapon Damage	(Base: 1) 1.12 (111.99%)
Attack Speed	1.03 (103%)
Spell Damage	(Base: 1) 1.57 (157.05%)
Magical Casting Speed	1.5218 (152.18%)
Critical Damage	(Base: 200%) 208%
Ranged Attack Damage	(Base: 0) 0 (108.17%)
Accuracy	1.027 (102.68%)
Movement Speed	1.067 (106.7%)
Flexibility	1.03 (103%)
Visual Acuity	10.8

He had 8 Stat-points available from gaining a level, but now that he looked at his Stats he had no idea where to put the points. He didn't really need to have more Strength to move around. And because he had a high Wisdom and Intelligence, he felt it might be better to try and focus his available Stat-points in those, but he didn't really have any idea of what those Stats influenced yet. He felt fairly intelligent, but that wasn't something he could really quantify, which made him hesitate where to put the points.

In his hesitation he did nothing, feeling it would be best to think about it for a while. He had, after all, already gained enough Strength to move around without any real trouble. There wasn't even a need to activate 'Enduring Willpower' when walking now. He decided it was best to try out his more flexible use of Mana Manipulation before making any decisions about where to put his available Stats. It might be worthwhile to go to the Magician's Guild again after completing the Quest from the Herbalist's Guild and buy some cheap Spells to see what kind of influence his high Wisdom and Intelligence had.

Before he knew it, he stood before a large open gate in the twenty meter high wall. The tunnel through the wall was dim, but the shadow of men standing with pole-arms could be seen on the other side. He walked through the tunnel, nodding to the guards as they looked at him.

Outside the city, grassland stretched out for several hundred meters; the hilly grassland had people moving around it, most alone, but some in groups. Almost all of the people he saw were engaged in battle with some creature or another. Mostly he saw large rats, rabbits and foxes, but he could also see a strange large beetle with large pincers protruding from its mouth. Seeing this creature he felt both apprehensive and elated. It was time to experiment with shooting pins with his 'Mana Manipulation'.

Observing his surrounding to his utmost ability he walked on tip-toes from the gate, keeping to the wall and looking around, keeping an eye out so that no creatures could ambush him. And when he felt he was far enough away from the wall that no one directly walking out of the city would see him, he began his second trial.

+7910% Damage because of Attack Speed You have critically hit the Rabbit in the head for 68 Damage Rabbit loses 20 Health and dies You have earned 5 Experience Points

You have advanced to Level 3.

Nice, Level 3 already, he thought, but having known he was close to level 3, he wasn't surprised, but it felt a bit strange to get 16 Stat-points in such a short amount of time. Especially since he had spent so long training to get a few Stats in Strength. He could only surmise that it must be easy to get the first few levels. View Experience.

Experience (to Next Level) (% to Next Level)

200 (200) (100.00%)

It seemed like the first two Levels had only needed 100 Experience each, but now he needed 200 Experience to the next level. It was like he had thought. But 200 Experience Points was still not very much, he only needed to kill forty rabbits to get that. And assuming that the other creatures on the plains gave equal or more Experience, he would Level up quickly.

That he only needed 100 Mana to kill a rabbit was good to know. He had tried killing a rabbit first because it was most likely the weakest creature—except maybe the rats—on the grassy plains where he could find the String Herbs. Now he only had to try to kill a fox and a giant beetle to ascertain the exact amount of Mana he needed to kill each of them.

He crouched down, looking on the ground for any String Herbs, their distinctly thick stringy leaves would be a bit difficult to see among all the other grasses, but he just had to look intently to find one in his vicinity. He crept up to the herb, looking around for any dangers, then dug around the herb's roots, taking it from the ground in one go. He was successful, but only barely. It had been more difficult than he had thought. Observe.

Lesser String Herb (41g) A String Herb picked by a Novice, it has lost a bit of its mass, but is otherwise usable for concoctions and tinctures. It is possible to eat it as is, but its effects will not be anywhere close to its refined state. Increase Mana Regeneration by 1 Mana per minute for 10 minutes

He put the herb in an unused slot in his Inventory and looked around again. Seeing no more herbs in his vicinity, he walked toward another of the creatures he wanted to try to kill. A giant beetle was not far away.

Creeping through the grass on gentle feet, trying not to draw any attention to himself, Jay swiftly closed in on the giant beetle. When he was about fifteen meters away from it, he charged a pin with 200 Mana and shot it at the giant beetle's head using his Mana Manipulation.

+12402% Damage because of Attack Speed You have critically hit the Giant Beetle in the head for 93 Damage Giant Beetle loses 50 Health and dies You have earned 25 Experience Points

It was good to know that even the Giant Beetles would die from a shot charged with only 150 or so Mana.

Claudine, is there a way for me to see where enemy creatures are without actually seeing them? Jay thought, hoping he could get some sort of map with indicators of where his enemies were.

No, Jay, Claudine said. There are some Skills that give you the ability to sense creatures as they are about to attack you, and there are even Skills which lets you sense how far away creatures are. But you cannot use any of those Skills. You need at least a Perception of 40 to use the least of those Skills.

Thanks anyway, Jay thought back. I'm guessing you can't tell me either, right?

Sorry, no, Claudine said. I can only tell you what I know, and I don't know where creatures that are moving around specifically are. I can tell you about what creatures you can expect to find in certain areas, but not anything beyond that.

Okay, Jay thought. It was a good idea to check with you anyway.

He went back to surveying his surroundings. It was not good that he might be attacked before he even noticed there was an enemy nearby. Unease crept in and he swiveled his head around more and more as he walked out on the grassy plains. He found a few String Herbs as he walked, but was only able to pick up one in three, destroying the others with his clumsy uprooting.

Seeing a fox in the distance he finally found the last of the four creatures that inhabited the plains outside the city. It was time to try how much mana he needed to kill it. He figured that he needed less than 200 Mana since the Giant Beetle had died from that, and the beetle had an outer skeletal body armor, which the fox did not have.

Creeping close to the fox, he stopped about fifteen meters away from it and brought out a pin. Too late did he notice the fox running toward him, and he could do nothing but look up in horror as the fox pounced. Jay felt dread as it bit his arm.

You have been attacked in the arm by a Red Fox. You lose 26 Health You are Bleeding for 2 HP per minute

The fox bounced away from Jay, pushing on Jay's torso as it left, making Jay stumble, almost falling to the ground. The fox attacked again, but Jay reacted just in time, rolling away from the speeding fox. He had no time to charge his pin with Mana Manipulation and he had sold his only knife. What was he going to do? Nothing to think about, he ran.

Running with all his might, he was struck again and again from behind, bringing down his Health quickly. He only had about 30% left when...

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