The Way Ahead

In the end, it took about an hour for Lefi to successfully bungle his way through enough of the underground corridors to find where his gear had been kept. One he had found the pile of his belongings, though, it still took another ten minutes for him to actually gear up properly, putting on a seemingly endless array of pouches and accessories. There were even two magical objects that Edwin spotted among the pile, one a short sword whose hilt held a glowing ruby and the other a seemingly plain, ordinary golden necklace with a tooth of some sort strung up on it. While the tooth itself was nonmagical, the chain was most certainly not, and Edwin had to metaphorically squint at the jewelry to avoid being arcanoceptically blinded by it. He couldn’t even feel the sword’s obvious magic simply because of how overwhelming the necklace was. Fortunately, as soon as Lefi had put it on, the aura faded away until he could only barely sense it when he was specifically looking for it. Edwin still wasn’t able to feel the sword’s aura, but that was likely because Lefi was also wearing the blade, so whatever was concealing his necklace’s mana must also be affecting the sword.

By the end of it all, Lefi looked like a proper adventurer. Bold and colorful, yet well-made, well-worn, and durable fabrics supporting a few metal plates of armor, all complimenting his array of weapons- sword at his left hip, quiver full of arrows on his right, a spear and unstrung longbow slung on his back, pouches all along his belt, two fairly large daggers, one with a black pommel, the other shining silver, strapped to his calves and a very full backpack with what looked to be a gray blanket rolled up underneath. Edwin also spotted a shield at some point in the process, though he couldn’t tell where that had ended up.

“Right then! Far better!”

“How can you… move in all of that?”

“What, this?” Lefi flexed and even did a set of jumping jacks, showing off, before returning to his neutral pose, dopey grin and all as his hair flickered in time with his breathing, “This is hardly anything! And besides! I could never go anywhere without my kit!”

“We’re… going to be walking around a city?”

“And? We shall not always be in the bounds of civilization! And once we brave the untamed wilds, you need to have everything at hand!”

“Well sure, but-”

“I’m glad you understand now! Come along now, friend Edwin! Let us equip you for the adventures ahead!”

“Wait, but I wasn’t… oh, why do I bother?”

It took the rest of the day to track down everything Lefi apparently wanted to get Edwin. For his part, Edwin had no say in what he would be getting beyond some details like what color he wanted his cloak, and was for the most part just pulled along for the ride. Lefi also constantly deflected all of his questions about his Skills and Paths, much to Edwin’s annoyance, but he always accompanied the refusal with a promise to tell Edwin once they were on the road. It wasn’t entirely satisfactory, but Edwin just didn’t have the mental or social energy to try and combat Lefi’s decision.

It was interesting. From what he had seen, most places weren’t terribly inclined to sell to Lefi, and there were even a few which categorically refused to serve him. Nonetheless, the adventurer seemed to still wrangle all of the gear he wanted to get for Edwin, though it seemed like it was usually at exorbitant rates. Then again, maybe it did cost a silver piece for a loaf of bread. Who could say? He didn’t have a grasp of the economics going on.

By the time the last item- a thick, deep green woolen cloak- had been found and purchased for a silver coin, it was starting to get late, and Lefi brought them to a fairly large building, spoke quite enthusiastically with whoever was there, and something something god of travel providing free beds to travelers, something something they qualified and so got a free bed for the night. Edwin was tired in more ways than one, though, and between the social and physical exhaustion that came from walking around a big city with an extrovert all day, he was out before he could even properly appreciate being on a mattress again.

Level Up!

Sleeping Level 22→23

Polyglot Level 26→28

Level Up!

Packing Level 5→7

Edwin couldn’t help but feel awesome. While he wished that he had a mirror to properly see what he looked like, he was also slightly worried it would spoil the effect. He still had his clothes from the dwarves- they were apparently high enough quality they weren’t worth replacing, though he had acquired a spare set- but he now had a gambeson- cloth armor apparently reinforced by Skills, a proper backpack, with his cloak rolled up beneath it like a bedroll would be. He also had a bunch of pouches on his new belt, mostly empty but containing enough rations for ten days, a filled canteen, and a few clean cloths for bandages. In his backpack, he had carefully packed his remaining three heating stones, his lime pebble (though it no longer registered as made of lime and resembled the material making up a seashell), notebooks (including the dwarven dictionary), and his metal bowl (Lefi had questioned his insistence on keeping it, but Edwin wasn’t about to give up one of the few things he actually had). Lastly, he had a fairly full coin pouch, with half a gold coin, 46 silver coins, and 17 copper, which was apparently the change for the mandated ‘two gold minimum’ Tara had set for Lefi. Other than that, his only earthly- joriahly?- belongings were his knife, strapped as it was onto his left hip, and a walking stick.

“Still not sure why I don’t get any kind of weapons, or potions, or even some rope.”

“Ah! But that is because such things you accumulate yourself! An Adventurer must be prepared for anything, yes, but if you do not know how to make use of what you have, it is less than worthless! If you don’t know how to fight with a sword, carrying one is simply dead weight! Surely you can already feel the difficulty of carrying what you have upon you now, despite most of your bags being empty?”

Edwin shrugged, trying to feel out the weight of his gear. It was maybe… forty pounds or so? Normally that may have been a lot, but at the same time… “Not really? Maybe if I didn’t have the Packing skill, though.”

“You already have packing! Marvelous! What are your other Skills? Paths as well. What are you working with?” Lefi waved cheerily to the guards keeping watch at the gate as they left. Edwin couldn’t exactly read their expressions, but he couldn’t help to imagine that they were relieved to see them go.

Edwin hesitated, letting them pass through a throng of people crowding around the side gate, before giving Lefi a brief rundown of his Skills and Paths. Unlike Tara, he never cut him off as he went through twenty skills. Every once in a while, Lefi would ask about what a skill seemed to do. A few times, he tried to ask Edwin about his history, but he always declined. Without knowing anything about the continent of Enigma, he didn’t want to say anything that would give away his ruse.

By the time he finished, they had made it outside of the sprawl of buildings outside the city walls, which was in turn disappearing into the distance as they walked along a hard-packed dirt road, which had split from the main cobblestone road to meander through endless farmland. Edwin didn’t recognize the crops being grown, but he also didn’t know enough about botany to know if they weren’t similar to plants back on Earth. It all seemed to be really lush and verdant, though.

Lefi didn’t say anything right away, instead simply stroking his chin in thought for a short while, “An adequate start for a true Adventurer! What of your Status evolution?”

“That’s one of the things I can’t tell you about too much. It allows me to take notes, though. Cost a hundred and twenty points, so apparently that was wasted.”

“Hm. Well, don’t allow yourself to let it slip by unused! Such a skill is bound to have hidden depths! Some aspect of its use you have yet to determine.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind, I guess. It’s my favorite skill, though, I use it constantly, so I think I’m using it fully?”

“Perhaps! Or perhaps not. Sometimes, parts of a Skill may be hidden for quite some time.” Lefi thought for some time, keeping blissfully quiet, as they continued on their journey before eventually speaking up once more, “You have a good initial range of skills, though is always better! We must ensure your skill base is as comprehensive as possible!”

“Yeah, actually, I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Tara seemed adamant that I had far too many skills to possibly be any good at anything. How do you manage that?”

“Well! As I have told you, I gained the Exceptional skill in my youth, and it has enabled me to grow in level faster than any others! Any Skill which I attempt to gain or improve levels at incredible rates! I manage to match any whom I face at their own skills!”

Stupid XP cheats. Edwin thought, Aren’t I, the world-displaced guy, supposed to get the super-special skills or whatever?

“However!” Lefi continued, unaware of Edwin’s musings, “Though you cannot be as Exceptional as I, we can still allow you to have an arsenal of skills! You have tapped a small amount into the true strength of any half-competent Adventurer! Versatility! The fine Lady Tara may be the fiercest combatant this side of the Verdant, but could she use a week-old game trail to find the lair of a manticore? Patch herself up after a battle gone poorly? Grow crops to feed a village? Not in the slightest! Even if she had the knowledge, she doesn’t have the Skills needed for greatness! But you and I? We can do all of that! You match a Guardsman blow for blow, but you’ll give them blows they can’t hope to respond to, run and hide better than they ever could! Lure them into traps you’ve made, knock them down, deprive them of the handful of tools they need. They’re strong, but they aren’t flexible. They’re brittle!” Lefi drew his spear in the blink of an eye, “And if you’re brittle, well…” in a blur of motion, the haft of his spear cracked into Edwin’s walking stick, splintering it into two halves, sending him stumbling as his support suddenly wasn’t, “You break so easily!”

Edwin shot Lefi a glare, and the adventurer motioned for him to hand his broken staff over. Edwin obliged, and he held the two splintered ends together for a few seconds, then handed them back to Edwin. He couldn’t tell where the break had happened upon inspection, the stick having been wholly repaired.

“Okay, so I… guess that’s impressive. That whole speech, is that rehearsed? Do you give it often?”

Lefi winked, “Ah, I’ll never tell.”

“So which is better? More skills or fewer skills? You said that the guardsmen are good at fighting, isn’t that exactly what they want to be good at?”

“Always more skills! If you wish to specialize, simply take all of your Skills such that they are all related and help one another! The more skills you have, the better you are at what you can do. The more times your skills have evolved? The more things you can do with those things! You know how else you can get an array of effects? More skills!”

Edwin nodded, “I think so. But evolving skills seem to be good, how does that work in all of this, then?”

“Simple! An evolution expands what you can do with a skill! However, it will not give you an effect you already have! Leaves behind the old effect- Running will never help you run farther, just let you go faster, that’s what Walking does- but expands it into a new direction!”

“Wait, but couldn’t you just get a Running skill on your own? Why is that an upgrade?”

“I knew one brave individual who achieved getting the Running skill as a base skill! I have attempted myself for quite some time! Not sure how, but he had both Walking and Running leveling all the time! Twas truly impressive. I think he became a Courier. They weren’t thrilled with his honestly better Skill set, but he’s still one of their best messengers last I heard from him. Can run all day so fast you can’t even blink if you want to see him,” he paused for a breath at long last before continuing in his booming voice- Edwin was so glad there was nobody nearby, “And that is why you must get more Skills! The more Skills you have, the more Skills you can evolve! If you have lots of Skills already, your evolution will always give you something exciting and new!”

“But what about being mediocre at everything?”

Lefi shrugged, “That is simply if you attempt to generalize! Specialists with lots of skills are masterful at their speciality, even better than the Empire’s Classes!”

“So then are the Empire’s Classes just awful, then? If having more Skills is always better? ”

“Not entirely! They have their place! That place is very narrow, but you will never find a squadron of adventurers who fight together as well as a squadron of Empire Legionaries! The uniformity of their classes allow them to coordinate and benefit from Tacticians far more than any Adventurer! However! Any single one of them is almost useless outside of that narrow area! Attempting to mimic them will only fail you! You must embrace what makes you unique to make it as! An! Adventurer!”

“And if I don’t know what that is?”

“That! Is what my aid is for! I have aided countless poor, lost children, outcast from their home for not having the right Skills to fit into the Empire’s instructions. Many have gone on to do marvelous things!”

“I see… Well, I suppose before we begin, what are Attributes, anyway?”

“Attributes are where we adventurers truly shine! Some Paths, such as Mage, Scout, and Athlete, grant you Attributes! They enhance you in ways which Skills cannot quite manage! Or not much, regardless. Mage will grant you Mana and improve how much you have! Scout will grant Perception, which benefits your awareness of your surroundings! Athlete provides Stamina, which makes all physical exertion easier! They work with many Skills and can be vital to improve your overall capabilities! The most useful of all is Health, which improves your resilience to all injuries! It is a staple of combat forces across the Empire! Also the only one they usually have!”

“Wait, why is that? They sound really useful.”

“Because they don’t have the Skill Points to spare, my young pupil!” Oh come on, if anything he was older than Lefi. The guy had to have been like eighteen at the most, “When you ration every last skill level to evolve your Skills as soon as you can, what use is a Path which does not aid you in evolving a Skill?”

“So should I try to get Attributes?”

“Indeed! More skills, more Paths, more Attributes! However! You must follow your heart! Only you can know what is most effective for your capabilities!” As the conversation continued, Lefi gesticulated more and more. At this point, he was practically putting on a full theater performance for the wheat field on the side of the road.

“So just… do whatever feels right? And get lots and lots of Skills?” Lefi nodded, and Edwin took a breath to steady himself, “Right then, I suppose I should at least hear what you have to say.”

Lefi grinned, his hair blowing in a faint breeze.