Riding along in the cart of Jrizan, a farmer from the village of Noma to the southeast, Logan was able to find a solid source of information about the new area he was within. Through what Logan was able to get from Jrizan, he was currently situated within the kingdom of Gauntlet, the capital sharing the same name, ruled by King Devis Lo. The town of Tinte was a good distance to the south of the capital, Noma being even more southeast.

Jrizan was carting his most recent harvest to Tinte in the form of bread, savoury baked goods, and some vegetables. Logan snacked on one of his cinnamon-roll-like pastries, the taste was naturally sweet and filled Logan with the energy he lost when escaping the forest. Asking for the name and recipe, Logan was delighted to see it was added into a new window and subsequently his System.

“Noma Swanbread: A sweet pastry that is a mainstay treat of the village Noma. Using natural sugars of fruit as well as other locally-grown grain, the pastry is a healthy way to recover your energy. Recipe added”, bringing Logan back into the game designs of the world, the window informed him about the pastry even further.

The long conversation with Jrizan allowed Logan to avoid some more pitfalls in conversation, but he could only ask so much without coming off as strange or otherworldly.

“It's best if I don't let people know about the System or PCs, I think. If my class is unique, people might experiment on me to find out about it”, Logan thought, not wanting to become a lab rat for a medieval magister.

When the conversation found lulls, Logan would look over his status and skills, with the main aim of planning for the future. His overuse of spells to kill a single wolf worried him, thoughts racing if he had made a mistake with his attribute distribution or that he should have chosen a skill to put his skill point into.

Looking towards his equipment, Logan saw he had two pieces listed, a leather garb and a shoddy knife. “System, show me my gear”, Logan thought, as two windows appeared, with a smaller one in front of them reading “For any gear in your possession you can merely inspect them to get their information”.

“Real basic gear, the armour doesn't do much, and this knife has real low numbers, is it much weaker compared to my magic? It's a good thing my starting weapon is a swift blade, it'll run off my Agility stat. If I can guess, I might add maybe 1 or 2 more damage to it, so it's really a 2 to 4 in that case, I’ll have to experiment between my knife and magic to see which packs more punch”, Logan started to count on his fingers to aid in the comparing of his attack options, having so many numbers to keep track of. He also noted the durability loss from using the knife to climb a tree.

Next, he took the time to also inspect the window that popped up during his tree climb, calling it up from a “History” function that noted any alerts in a list.

“Seems that tree climb and dash through the woods bumped up the Climb skill a bit, for now I don't plan on going up any more trees but it could help down the line. There's so many class skills and SKoLs to choose from, it's hard to pick one. It kinda feels like a waste to spend any points on SKoLs due to me being able to unlock them through just using them. System, is there any sort of search option or recommended skills I could look at?” Logan's theorising and searching only got him so far.

“Those options are not yet available to Logan”, a window replied to Logan, adding to the number of responses that were just “no” or “ask again later”.

“That doesn't help too much when I only really get a brief description of what a skill is before I have unlocked it. Backstab just says it deals more damage to unsuspecting foes, whereas Identification says it uses my senses to identify creatures and objects, displaying their stats. If I knew the whole breadth of their use I could make a concrete choice. Since Identification is a SKoL it doesn't list how to activate it besides that blurb. It would be a valuable skill to have, so I could gauge what enemies I should fight or flee from”, Logan was making slow progress into his skill research, not aided much from his System.

A bump in the road suddenly caused the cart to jolt upwards, knocking Logan out of his trance of thought. Grabbing a hold of the side of the cart, Logan looked over to Jrizan who seemed unphased. “I may just wait a bit longer before spending this skill point, maybe the adventurers have some idea of skills to give me a better insight”, Logan thought as he centred himself back into the cart seat.

The long conversations held with Jrizan lead Logan to focusing on his next goal, after sorting out his injuries, to join up as an adventurer. The quest to survive he could easily do in a house, but it occurred to him that the quests might not stay so simple. With the aim of trying to complete more of the additional objectives, forming a party would allow him to gain strength in a faster and safer way.

Time passed on, a good hour in the comfort of a vehicle. Logan recovered his legs and hand in the happy company, Jrizan picking up the conversation every so often. While out of his comfort zone discussion wise, Logan was thankful to have something other than a program in his head to converse with. The sun started to hit the peak of the sky, and with it, the sight of the smoke in the distance became much closer.

Peering over the dirt road, which became more solid and uniformed, Logan could see the outskirts of the village Tinte. A short wooden palisade guarded the exterior of the village, watchtowers every hundred feet apart or thereabouts, manned by what looked like guardsmen with bows. Approaching from the southeast, the cart was coming up to a wide-open gate made of wood, guarded by 2 humans in breastplate armour, spears attached to their backs and poking above their heads.

“Ho, Noma goods coming through”, Jrizan raised his arm in a wave, shouting to the guards. The left guard gave a wave back then a thumbs up, signalling that the cart was fine to enter into the town. The sound of shuffling atop a nearby watchtower could be heard as a guard moved to the side at its perch.

“Ho, Jrizan, fair day to you, I hope you brought some darkbread. That last batch shut the kids up for days!” the guard shouted from up high down to the cart. Not stopping, Jrizan shouted back up.

“Yes! A good harvest was had, plenty of darkbread to go around. Bring your coppers on down after I get set up!” Jrizan looked back to his covered cart, making sure the tarp was still secured.

Feeling a bit like a third wheel to the friendship shown between Jrizan and the locals, Logan shifted his gaze around the immediate vicinity. The guards could cause some damage and so Logan thought it best he didn't stir up any ruckus. “Map”, he thought to himself, pulling up his slowly filling-in virtual map, though it was now just a spec of green and a wiry line of brown, green, and a light grey finally ending up at the town of Tinte. “At least I can backtrack if needed, but if that forest holds much more in the way of wolves I'll steer clear”, Logan promised himself, hoping to stay in safety a bit longer.

Moving into the village proper, Logan saw several low-class structures made of mud, thatch, and wood, some more stable buildings leading into the central parts of town made of wood, stone, and brick. Several townsfolk were milling about, or NPCs as the System would call them. Unlike the program in his head, all these people seemed to be living, breathing, true to life humans. Dressed in cloth gowns, patchwork leather tunics and trousers, the villagers didn't seem to have much money flowing around.

The creaking and snaps of the wheels from the wagon started to slow, the metal screws and hinges squeaking as the vehicle came to a stop in the dirt. Jrizan pulled up his reins and tied them around the helm of the driver's seat.

“This's the first stop, I'm gonna be unloading the goods at this shop then heading off to my friend's house to rest up. If you wanna go get that hand looked at there's a small Devout building in the west part of town, newcomers get a free healing spell. After that, you can head off to the adventurers' hall in the centre of town. The house we're laying our heads at is close to the hall, has a creaky fence and a dog outside, you'll see the cart there anyways”, Jrizan turned to Logan as he spoke, giving some pointing directions as he informed the starting Spellthief of the 3 places he'd go for the rest of the day.

Sliding his body to the edge, the farmer hopped off the side of the cart, Logan followed in suit by getting off the opposite edge. His feet hitting the dirt floor, Logan took his first steps into a secure locale. “A good enough base to return to, that Devout place is noteworthy”, Logan thought to himself.

“Thanks a lot, Jrizan, I'll take a stroll around, see if I can get the lay of the land. See you tonight”, Logan said to his new friend, giving a wave with his good hand. Moving away from the cart, Logan looked back to see Jrizan unfurling the tarp, a shopkeeper exiting the nearby shop, dressed in brown overalls and a grey apron, his hair fraying a bit as if he had a blunderbuss backfire into his face.

Pressing on, Logan took the directions he was given, heading to the Devout building in the west part of town. Passing several buildings, Logan found the village becoming more stable and upper-class, the mud and thatch buildings disappearing behind the more wooden ones. Shops for clothes, weapons, potions, and more went by as Logan bee-lined for the Devout building. As well as established buildings, plenty of carpets and tents were set out on the streets, with merchants peddling anonymous wares at cheaper prices.

Coming up to a larger building, showing off hues of white, gold, and red, Logan was sure this was the place of the Devouts. A large 6-fingered claw sign was set above the door, having Logan raise an eyebrow in intrigue. Since the door was wide-open, Logan stepped through it, making sure his boots were cleaned of mud at the stone slab before the doorframe.

Making his way into the building, the hustle and bustle from outside was diluted by the sounds of humming, chants, and chatter between the Devouts and villagers. Beams of light shone in from tall windows, filling the hall with darkness-shattering light. Looking around, Logan could see more symbols relating to the 6-fingered claw, as his head scanned the room a tall woman approached him, standing at a solid 6'.

Draped in a robe of white and red, the woman carried a long staff with intricately interlocked wood. Depictions of beasts were seen across her robe, the 6-fingered claw appearing at the top section near her neck. The only skin that Logan could see was that of her hands and head, a lovely shade of brown that was not marred by dirt like the other villagers, long auburn hair draped over her shoulders and down her back. Taking her left hand, she made a claw and moved it over her heart, bowing slightly to Logan, who felt completely out of place.

“Welcome to the church of Desma, I do not know you from Wallace, are you new to the town of Tinte?” the woman asked, an inviting tone to her voice without any sign of aggression.

“Uh, yeah, I'm new to Tinte, I was meaning to come here to become an adventurer. My friend advised me to come here about healing? I got mauled pretty bad by a wolf in the forest”, Logan responded, lifting his wounded right hand.

“Ah, a wound of battle with the grand forest. If it were to make one it'd be a wonderful battle scar. As you're new we can offer a healing service free of charge, if you're welcoming to an introduction of our deity?” the woman continued, preparing a sermon of some sort to entice Logan into a religion no doubt. Though Logan was curious, so he would accept.

“Yes, that'd be great. I was curious about the claw that's all around here.”

“Wonderful, before we begin, my name is Marta, might I inquire as to yours?” the woman responded, waving her hand to a nearby pew for the two to sit at. Following Marta, Logan responded.

“Hello, Marta, I'm Logan”, Sitting at the pew, Logan made sure to rest his right hand on his leg.

“Well, Logan, the story of Desma is long and involved, so I shall give you an overview. Desma is the sire deity of the forest and its denizens, giving life to wolves, bears, and all manners of life that makes their home amidst the trees. From gifting them life, he gives them all the challenge of pride as well as a drive to prove themselves as the strongest beings. The teachings of Desma are deep-seated in the hunt, where civilized folks fight against the forest, whoever survives is to be rewarded for their achievement. We followers of Desma look after the hunters who return, mend their bodies and see them off to the hunt once more, though respect must always be paid to the forests”, Marta recited to Logan an abbreviated version of her faith, her hands moving to hold Logan's right hand.

“I could get behind that, at least the respect part, the hunting was a bit too dangerous for my blood right now, considering the wolf took plenty of it.”

“The fact you survived is enough of a victory, though I must wonder, did you flee or did you kill the wolf challenger?” Marta asked, her bright aqua eyes locking with Logan, an intense interest easily recognisable.

“Yeah, I shot lightning right into its mouth when it bit down on me. It's definitely dead”, Logan responded, “Hopefully that's a good answer, I don't want to offend someone who can heal me”, he thought to himself.

A smile appeared on Marta's lips, the reply pleased her. “Good, a hunter's return is a wonder”, Marta lowered her head to look at Logan's hand, her eyes closed as she began to chant. “Powers above and below, heal your child of Avanar and close their wounds. Heal Grasp”, with her words a light shone from her enclosed hands, clasping around Logan's injured one.

With the healing taking place, a window appeared once more “You have received 6 points of healing, current HP: 12/12”, with the words and the spell Logan felt in tip-top shape. Marta removed her hands to reveal a pristine looking hand, if not for the slight holes in Logan's sleeve. “Quick work, and effective. I wonder if that 6 healing was what she did or if it was capped by my maximum health?” Logan pondered, raising his hand to look it over.

“Thank you, Marta. It's as good as new. What is the normal price for a healing spell like this?” Logan asked, making a note of a service he would more than likely need to take full advantage of.

“The heal spell costs 1 silver piece per cast, other spells have varying costs based on their level and preparation”, Marta returned, standing up from the pew. Logan was startled a bit, though he had no money to speak of so he didn't have a fine grasp on how expensive that was. Clenching his fist and curling his fingers he stood with Marta.

“Well, that should be all I need for now. I am off to the adventuring hall. I would say I hope to see you again, but that would mean I was injured again which I aim to avoid, but it was a nice meeting nonetheless”, Logan looked to Marta, a thankful smile across his face.

“Till next time, Logan”, Marta made the same claw motion to her heart and bowed slightly. Seeing Logan off, Marta returned to the interior of the building as Logan exited to the streets once more.

With a renewed vigour, Logan made his way down the dirt streets, passing the shops quickly as he didn't want to get too distracted. His hurried steps taking him through to an even nicer part of town with some form of stone-paved roads, it seemed like Tinte was in the process of updating their paths.

Stopping outside the large establishment, Logan was before a 3-floored building, a large sign of a crossed sword and staff noting it to be the adventurers' hall. Windows peered into the interior of the building showing off several tables and adventurers drinking, chatting, or formulating plans. “This is the place, time to find some allies, and maybe another PC. I don't have any spells left for the day so I best not start any trouble”, Logan thought, preparing himself to enter into the hall.

Making sure his clothes were in order and his dagger was locked, Logan stepped up the wooden stairs to the wide-open double doors and entered the adventurers' hall of Tinte.

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