My Ability That Thrives Off Pleasures

The journey back to the city he left a few hours ago was somber. The only sounds the wind still carrying the smell of burnt earth, Selby's hooves hitting the ground in a rhythmic pace, and the trees leaves swishing.

His eyes watching the road ahead were red and dull, his whole body tired and bouncing along to Selby as they followed the dirt path.

They traveled the path slowly and smoothly, Selby stopping to eat some grass every now and then. He just let her do her thing, his body slumped and sitting quietly. The hours passed with the sun beating down on him like a hammer.

Hale didn't know what to do. He had nowhere to go and only a few things to his name…

He didn't even know if he wanted to continue living. He was alone now, completely alone. All who had knew him had disappeared, turned to nothing more than piles of ash.

As his thoughts turned and the images of the crater came to mind along with the wild flowers he placed on the edge of it he could not help but feel a simmering anger, under the sadness that had threatened to consume him was anger so intense its flames were pillars of fire.

His knuckles turned white holding the rein tightly, his face contorting into an angry and sad expression, then into an expression of a solidified determination. He knew it had to have been someone or something, it wasn't some natural disaster. He would find whatever had destroyed his village, and he in turn would make it suffer a fate worse than death.

Even if it killed him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of leaves. Turning his head in the direction the noise came from he saw a pale dainty hand emerge, then a whole body. This body was covered with a weird leaf like attire and very agile looking, they were much taller than him. Some parts of the clothing were covered in ash and ripped exposing pale flesh.

His eyes narrowed, his thoughts churning. He could not see the features of this individual due to the hood that hung over their face. A soft tired voice coughed lightly then spoke, "Hello traveler, I wonder if you know what direction the cities in?"

The voice of a woman, he looked at her warily, the ash that covered her reminding him of his village. "Why are you covered in ash?" He didn't waste anytime on trying to figure it out sneakily.

"A fire had spread far and wide in the forest, me and my companions luckily escaped it." Companions? He looked around, but saw no one. "Please just point us in the direction of the city if you can…"

Hale looked at her then sighed, "Just follow this dirt path…"

When he looked at her again he had noticed something strange… a weird light seemed to surround her. Like a halo of sorts, its color a pale green and above her head was words. As a farming commoner he couldn't read, but he could sense what the words meant?

Good Thoughts +1

(1/10)

Hale watched it stay there before slowly dissipating.

"Thank you traveler for you kindness. We'll be heading off then." Before she could run off he hurriedly stopped her, "Wait! Um…" but he stopped himself from asking the many questions that swirled through him. If he was the only one who could see it, he'd look crazy.

"My village was burnt down from the fire and I'm the only one left. I was wondering if I could travel with you? I don't know much about the city…"

She's silent for a moment before saying apologetically, "Sorry… we're traveling at a fast pace. Hope you make it there safely."

He saw words float up again

Good Thoughts +2

(3/10)

Before he could say more she had disappeared like a gust of wind. He was shocked, it was like she disappeared.

Then some words appeared in front of Hale, was he really going crazy? He had to be going crazy.

Lvl 1.

Skill Bar (1)- None

Available Skills (2): None

W-What was this? Skill bar? He didn't know what to think of this. What were these strange words and what did they mean?

Then suddenly he kne. w what they meant. The skill bar could hold skills for him and the number one meant there was only one space. Available skills were what he could place in his skill bar.

What about that weird Lvl thing? Then he knew, the more lvls the more space and the chance to be able to keep stronger skills. He rubbed his head, all this information was so sudden and kept popping into his head.

What were skills? They were abilites he could harness and use.

Why could he see these words? No answer came for this question even after a few minutes of waiting.

Since there was no explanation he could only accept this new weird ability he had. He felt stressed, a lot had happened the last two days and now this. He didn't know how to feel about it, Selby continued to follow the dirt path and they soon made it to the city. It's high walls no different then what they were when he had left, but only this time his attitude was solemn.

He reached the gate, talked to the guard, then entered the city. What was he going to do next? He wasn't sure.

The first thing that came to mind was a job, but to keep a job you needed a home, and to keep a home you needed money, and the only way to get money was a job. It was a tortuous cycle, and one he wasn't sure how to solve.

He only had a few copper to his name, nowhere near enough to buy a home. He still had the things he had purchased a few days ago but even if he sold them he wouldn't be able to get much money.

He rubbed his head, frustrated and tired. Selby stopped at a public watering trough. She drank thristily.

He couldn't help but swallow his own salvia, he had only noticed now that he was incredibly thristy and only steadily getting thirstier as he watched her drink.

He heard the sound of hooves coming up behind him before he saw someone pull their horse beside his for a drink. They looked weary and covered in dirt, their black horse looking to be on its last breathe. Hale coughed lightly before asking, "Sir, do you happen to know if there's a well around here?"

The man turns to look at him before answering, "There's a well that way…" He points down the street, "There's also a creek outside the city walls that way." He then points to another direction.

Hale looked at the man more closely, he noticed a weird pale green light that was almost invisible outline him. He wondered what it meant…

Nodding Hale thanked the man before heading in the direction of the well. It was a big public well, there was already a line of people waiting.

As he waited he tied Selby on a nearby post, the line moved slowly and when it was finally his turn he had to pull up the heavy bucket to fetch the water from down below. Weakened from hunger, thirst, and grief it took him longer than usual. The impatient people behind him muttered words.

When he turned to look at them he saw the weird words again only this time it was a bit different.

Unhappy Thoughts -1

(-1/10)

It was all a bit different for some of them but it was clear they were all unhappy thoughts directed towards him. With unsteady steps he pulled the bucket up enough and grabbed a hold of it, he dunked his water skin into the bucket and then plopped the bucket back down into the well.

He walked back to his horse and hopped on her back before drinking out of his water skin thristly. He put away his water skin and rode Selby down the road. Looking around he saw people selling herbs and fish in stalls, some selling fruits. It was a wide and open marketplace.

Hale scratched his chin in thought.

"Fishing poles for sale!"

He turned his head, looking at the vendor, "Fishing poles for sale! Only a copper each."

They were shoddy fishing poles, made of a basic stick, string and a small wooden hook. An idea came to him though and he walked up to the vendor. The vendor had a pale green color outlining him.

Happy Thoughts +1

(1/10)

He saw that pop up over the top of the vendors head, he must've been happy about him purchasing? As he rode Selby out of the city and in the direction of the creek, he passed by a few more vendors but knew he couldn't spend anymore.

He dug up some worms from under a few rocks, then peirced one with the fishing poles hook. He thew the long string out with his hand. It plopped and sank down. Hale waited a long time before he felt the strong pull, he pulled with caution not wanting the string to break. After a few minutes of tugging he pulled up a medium sized fish, its blue scales shimmered. He kept fishing for the last hour pulling up four fish in total. The last four being on the smaller size.

He walked back to town with the fish in his hands, Selby following him. He then went to a fish vendor, "Hello sir, I'd like to sell these fish to you. This one can fetch five copper but I'll sell it to you for two."

Unhappy Thoughts -1

(-1/10)

He looked at the negative number in confusion, why did he have unhappy thoughts? Remembering his mean mug some people might automatically assume he's not a good guy.

With some convincing he sold his fish this way, making a small profit. Everybody liked discounted things so they weren't too hard to sell. He had pocketed six copper from this. Not much but money was money.

Happy thoughts +1

(0/10)

Happy thoughts +1

(1/10)

As he saw the words float then dissipate on the top of the fish vendors head he wondered what would happen if he got a ten out of ten? Then like before Hale suddenly knew, he would be able to receive a skill if he did.

Knowing this he was curious and wanted to try and receive a skill. He looked around, it'd probably be best if he tried to receive a skill from someone who already had some progress done.

Seeing the fish vendor and looking above his head, he squinted.

(1/10)

Nearby was the fishing pole vendor.

(1/10)

Making up his mind Hale thought it'd be easier with the fishing pole vendor, he had a humble atmosphere. He was a man in his late fourties with a thick beard that was slowly being swallowed by white hairs.

Walking up to the man Hale smiled, "Your fishing pole works really good."

Hearing this the man smiled and proudly thumped his chest with his fist, "Of course, their making process was passed down from my grandfather to my father to me."

Good Thoughts +3

(4/10)

Hale smiled , "That's incredible, and you sell them at such a wonderful price too, your a very good sales men."

The fishing vendor couldn't help but laugh, his cheeks reddening from his joy, "Well no doubt, my father raised me to be a good man."

Good Thoughts +4

(8/10)

"He did a wonderful job, if you ever have any other things you'd like to try selling I'll happily come to you to purchase them." Hale said as he watched the words appear and dissipate, he was so close.

"Of course, of course. Kind and generous customers like you are always welcome."

Good thoughts +2

(10/10)

He watched as the words appeared then disappeared, the pale green light that outlined the man grew darker in color and above his head he looked at the numbers.

(0/20)

Walking off after saying goodbye to the fishing vendor he found a secluded corner and thought of his skill bar and watched the words appear in front of him.

Lvl 1.

Skill Bar (1)- None

Available Skills (1): 1