For something like the tenth time, I attempted to force my armour into my backpack. I had kinda got used to wearing it around the vicinity of the guild and dungeon now, but here I had the advantage of dozens of others wearing the same embarrassing outfit. There was no way I was going to wear it on the way back to the village, let alone let anyone from the village see me in it. Unfortunately, my desires were not sufficient to overcome conventional geometry, which was taking great pains to point out that the bundle of armour was larger than the inside of my pack, however much I tried to squeeze it. I didn't want to have to carry it back loose. Maybe I could find a sack of some sort? I added the helmet to my pack and left the rest out for now.

I was having similar thoughts about my new magical ring. When I tried putting it on, it shrunk down to perfectly fit my finger, but it had a rather ostentatious looking red crystal set in it. It didn't look like any sort of child's jewellery, and walking around wearing it would be embarrassingly eye catching. On the other hand, it gave me plus five strength, and even stacked with [Strength]. For the purposes of carrying all my stuff home, it would be very useful. Great utility for the small price of my pride... Weighing up my pack with all my stuff packed, combined with my staff and armour, I decided on wearing it. I could always keep my hand in my pocket.

Asking at reception where I could find a sack, it turned out that today was a market day. Arriving in the market square, there were a half dozen stalls set up there, goods laid out on blankets on the floor in front of carts. Given what Richard had said about the number of surrounding villages, only half of them were represented here. There was certainly no-one from our own village. The goods were largely handicrafts of suspect quality, although there was nothing [Appraisal] identified as being rank zero, so it was still all better than my early attempts. I found a stall selling roughly sewn hemp sacks and picked one up for a few coppers.

Another of the stalls was selling cooked meat, the owner hovering over a little grill and poking some suspicious black lumps. Seeing me looking, he called out. "Want to try some meat? You won't find any cheaper than this!"

That did nothing to offer confidence... "What sort of meat is it? It's very... dark."

The seller looked a bit sheepish. "It's kobold, but it's all perfectly edible, I assure you."

Kobold? Wait, that's monster meat? "Where did you get kobold? The dungeon here is mostly goblins."

"They're from our village. There's a mana field nearby."

Fair enough. In the name of science, I forked out a couple of coppers and potentially my future health in exchange for a skewer of black, jiggly kobold meat. At least it didn't smell as repugnant as orc. How bad could it be? In fact, the answer turned out to be not bad at all. It was pretty good, if I kept my eyes closed while eating it. That was a surprise. Maybe I should try orc sometime after all? Assuming I didn't come down with food poisoning in the next few hours.

Sack in hand, I returned to the guild, packed my stuff away and headed home. This immediately presented another problem. I'd been back and forth to Dawnhold a couple of times now, but that didn't mean I knew exactly which direction I needed to head in, and with the homogeneity of the landscape I was liable to get myself lost. I should have arranged to meet up with Henry on one of his restocking trips, but that could be almost a week away for all I knew. I'd just have to point myself vaguely west and hope for the best.

I skipped along with [Far Step] for a bit, but the high mana cost would make it infeasible for long distance travel. Plus it was max level already, so I'd be better off spending mana on something else. I went for [Endurance] and a paced jog, which wouldn't cut my travel time by much but was the best I could do right now.

ding

Skill [Endurance] advanced to level 3

There were some scrapings along the ground that looked like they might have once wanted to be a dirt track but failed the admissions exam, and even they petered out before too long. I tried to keep going in a similar direction, looking for any landmarks I recognised, but I hit the forest without seeing any sign of the village. Drat... Now what? Do I follow the tree line north or south? If this world has a status screen, why can't it have a mini-map? I can't be that far off, so I'll go north for half an hour, and if I don't find the village, I'll switch direction and go south. I've still got my water crystal and dungeon rations in my pack, so I can survive out here a few days. Worst case, I use one of my soul points for [Foraging] and go and feed myself in the forest.

ding

Skill [Privacy] advanced to level 8

Huh? I looked around and saw nothing. Did someone just appraise me? I'm in the middle of the wilderness!

"You have good senses, child. Are you lost?"

Woah! I spun around only to find someone standing right behind me. I'd swear he hadn't been there a second ago!

Sanderolas, Elf, Forest Walker (13/23)

"Oh? You detected my approach from so far away, yet I was still able to surprise you. And the System calls you human, yet you sound so different. What an interesting one you are."

I'd been in the forest before, but I'd never actually met an elf. Their settlements were far deeper in than the outskirts I'd visited, and only their scouts came out this far. He was tall, with the stereotypical pointed ears and pale skin, wearing impracticably flowing green garments that looked like they should catch on every twig and thorn in the forest. They looked pristine, so surely there must be some sort of enchantment or skill going on there. And what does he mean I sound different? I haven't said anything yet!

"Umm... Maybe I'm slightly lost? Just a little? I'm fairly sure I'm almost in the right place."

Sanderolas raised an eyebrow, a trick that thus far I'd only seen on Lord Reid. "And where would the right place happen to be?"

"There should be a village around here somewhere."

"There is indeed, but you're heading in the wrong direction. It's that way." He pointed off to the south. Drat again. I had a fifty-fifty chance and guessed wrong. Still, that meant I had a chance to meet an elf for the first time, so it wasn't all bad.

"Thanks. The road from Dawnhold is kind of non-existent, and I lost it half way here. I wasn't sure if I'd hit the forest north or south of the village."

"That is a long journey for a child such as yourself to be making alone, however high level you may be. Where are your parents?"

"Back at the village. There were unusual circumstances, and I'm older than I look. Anyway, what did you mean I don't sound human; I hadn't even said anything!"

The elf peered suspiciously. "If you say so. And not your voice. Your mana. The pitch is wrong, and there are notes I've never before heard together."

How the hell am I supposed to respond to that? My mana sounds wrong? Mana doesn't sound like anything! Is this an elf thing? "I... can't say I can hear mana myself, so I'll have to take your word for it. But thanks for the directions."

"Then I wish you a safe journey."

He vanished back into the treeline without another word, so I turned around and started heading back south. So that was my first meeting with an elf. The mana thing was interesting, but aside from that it was a little underwhelming, same as with the dwarven guild master. Were all races here basically just humans with slightly different shapes and funny ears? At least the beastkin were fluffy.

I arrived back at the village half an hour later, having walked a quarter hour the wrong way. Being mid afternoon, dad would be in the fields, but I didn't see him on my way in. Presumably he was on a different side of the village. Mum on the other hand was hard at work in our shack, sewing up a thin summer dress. She looked up in surprise as I entered.

"Back already? Are you hurt? Did it go well?"

Ah... I hadn't considered how I was going to tell her about the quest, or my trainers quitting on me. "It all went well. I'm not injured. I don't even have any scratches on me. Umm... I did end up getting a System quest, though. It wants me to clear the dungeon solo before my tenth birthday."

The first bit wasn't wrong; my injuries had all been healed perfectly. I couldn't hide the last bit though, and winced as I admitted it. Fortunately mum hadn't been there in the tenth floor boss room, watching the veritable army charging at Xander.

"What's a System quest? I've never heard of anything like that."

"A task the System set for me, that shows up in my status." No need to mention rewards or penalties...

"So you think that's related? Like if you work towards the task, no more orc attacks?"

"Hopefully not."

Mum nodded in relief, before looking down to my hand. "What's that ring? Is that the fashion sense in your other world?"

"No way. It's a magic item I got from the dungeon. Gives plus five strength at the cost of looking silly. Not too bad a trade-off."

"Indeed. That must be a valuable item."

I actually had no idea how much it would cost. If the delvers store had any items like these, they weren't out on display anywhere that I saw them. I couldn't imagine a party without any rank three members clearing that boss room, so they were probably rare. Wow, now that I considered it, was I actually wearing something really expensive? Given the coins in the chest, I'd assumed the item value was about the same, as with the steel ingot from floor five. While I was thinking of money, I decided to hand over a few large coppers. Since I was sort of employed now, I might as well contribute to the family finances.

While we were chatting, something else was niggling at the back of my brain. There was something out of place, or missing. Of course; the background screaming wasn't there, nor had I been tackled on my way in!

"Is Cluma okay? I can't hear her."

"Oh? Did you not meet them in Dawnhold? They left the day after you did."

Oh, that's a pity... I'd have visited them if I'd known. I hadn't heard about any new restaurants starting up, but I hadn't left the vicinity of the delvers guild. I'd make sure to visit when I went back. That also killed my training with Cluma plan, which was a little irritating. I'd have to find something else to do here.

I waited for mum to look down, then activated [Concealment]. I hadn't got any use out of it in the dungeon, not wanting to admit buying the skill after Xander had already berated me for [Dismantling], but after seeing the goblin assassins and Sanderolas in action, not to mention Noah, I was enamoured by stealth skills once again. Sitting quietly until she looked back up, I saw the look of confusion on her face as she looked around the room, eyes never quite settling on me. It only lasted a few seconds before she saw through it, though, looking straight at me. "I picked up a few new skills while I was there too," I said, cancelling the skill and giving a little wave. "I'll tell you all about it once dad gets back."

Dad arrived in the evening, and I regaled them both with my tales of the dungeon and the monsters I'd fought. Dad insisted on seeing me in uniform, because of course he did. Ah well, one parent had already seen me in my skintight leather bodysuit, so why not the other one? It wasn't as if they saw it in the same way as me anyway, thank goodness. There was actually something fishy going on with dad. When he got back and saw me, I swear I saw a flicker of disappointment on his face. Why would he be disappointed to see me? I asked, but he denied it, and given that he supposedly couldn't lie, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I filed it away under my list of things to investigate in the future.

I spent a week trying to be relatively normal. Not that I was particularly successful. I abused [Concealment] to beat the kids at hide and seek and used buff spells to beat them at everything physical. Probably extreme overkill, but they all still seemed to be having fun. I helped out Remous in the smithy, and with my skill boost and ring of strength he now let me work on real tools, as well as helping me out with a little project of my own.

I carved myself an Inequality board, beating my parents and being soundly beaten in turn by Richard and Kari, who seemed to delight in ganging up on me before fighting among themselves. I'd have whined at them, but intelligence boosts all around meant that no-one really cared about winners and losers. Angus and Warren wanted to know what had happened in Dawnhold and even offered to give me a bit of training now that there was no avoiding me delving. Overall, it made for a very productive week.

Intelligence increased by 1

Skill [Concealment] advanced to level 2

Skill [Concealment] advanced to level 3

Skill [Dexterity] advanced to level 4

Skill [Mana Sense] advanced to level 12

Skill [Mana Control] advanced to level 11

Skill [Basic Smithing] advanced to level 8

Skill [Basic Smithing] advanced to level 9

Skill [Basic Carpentry] advanced to level 9