“Die?”

“Yes. You accepted a quest to defeat an entire tribe of hostile dwarves that can camouflage themselves. You haven’t formed a party, or prepared, and I’m guessing that since you got here you’re only level one?”

“Yeah, I just thought that’s what I’m supposed to do? I can just leave it, right?”

“No. It’ll be there until either you succeed or fail, and if you fail the system will punish you.”

“Punish me? But I didn’t even know!”

“The system is here to give us what we need to survive. It likes to push people forward and punish them for falling behind.”

“Well… do you want to join my party?”

“No, I can’t really seek knowledge if I’m dead.”

I slid my hand across my face slowly, then pushed it down just like I had been everything doing everything else. Reckless, that's what that was, but... I also found myself a little excited.

“It’s not like I won't help you at all. I need to be able leave safely if I’m ever going to fulfill my role for the village. I would just prefer to get all the benefits without incurring any of the costs.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s how everyone would prefer to do everything.”

“Yep,” she said without a hint of guilt in her voice.

“So, how should we get started?”

“Hmm, it might help if I knew what you have to work with.” Her eyes began to glow.

Rockelle requests to view your character sheet, do you accept? Y/N

I hit yes.

She squinted, looking into the air in front of her. “Hmm, combat class, that’s good. Good racial bonuses too, and your stats are above average, except for luck.”

“Would you mind actually explaining the stats? I want to make sure I’m not making any stupid assumptions.”

She nodded. “The physical stats are pretty straightforward. Strength lets you lift more and hit harder. Dexterity lets you move more precisely and flexibly. Speed lets you move faster, but not just in terms of running, it affects your reflexes and reactions. Intelligence is a bit more nebulous. I’ve heard stories of people putting points into Intelligence thinking it would make them brilliant, but it doesn’t exactly work that way. It’s more that it maximizes your ability to use the intellect you have naturally. This is mostly reflected in the speed in which your skill levels increase. It also impacts spellcasting classes, but I’m not sure if it’ll impact your racial abilities. Wisdom is more useful to the average person, it affects your ability to learn new skills or even combine them. It also tends to help people keep from making stupid decisions. I already explained personality. Constitution affects your HP and your general stamina, though HP is partially randomized at every level based on your class. Luck is hard to quantify, but generally considered useful all around. High luck can be a liability though. We had a man in town with a luck of almost 30. He put every point he could into it, and soon opportunities fell into his lap constantly. He found a vein of gold under his house, discovered he had a dead uncle with claim to a title, and managed to seduce the mayor’s daughter. The mayor’s daughter, of course, was married. The man was found dead shortly after. The luck stat provides opportunities, but that doesn’t always mean it’s wise to take them.” Her eyes were lit as she spoke and she barely breathed during her explanation which left her gasping for air by the time she was done.

“I’ll try not to sleep with married women. It hasn’t been an issue so far.”

She squinted and her eyes began glowing a bright pink instead of the softer shade they'd just been. “Hmmm, you have hidden abilities here.”

“What?”

“I can see them on your sheet with a class ability of mine. It doesn’t say what they are, but you have at least three of them.

“Is there any way to find out what they are?”

“Not that I know of. There are a lot of gaps in my knowledge. I’ve only been able to study here within the village so far.”

“You know all you do without leaving the village?”

She smiled. “Yes. Just because I’m stuck here doesn’t mean it’s not my job to seek.”

“Wow.”

Her smile widened, I had a feeling she wasn’t used to praise.

“So, what should I do first?” I asked.

“Eat and sleep.”

I blinked. “What?”

“It’s night, your hands are shaky, and your HP is low. A good meal and some rest is the smartest thing we can do for now. I’ll have a plan when we wake up, I do my best thinking while asleep.”

…

I volunteered to help with dinner and came upon another benefit to the system.

You have been offered a personal quest by Rockelle

Help with Dinner

Reward: Dinner, A New Recipe

Do accept? Y/N

I accepted and was able to see the ingredients and steps to make the meal listed clearly in the air in front of me. I helped to cut up three types of mushrooms, each of which had a smell to it that I had never encountered before. That’s not to say that they smelled bad, just differently from what I was used to. Rockelle prepared the meat and I noticed that the steps of the recipe she was working on had her name floating next to them.

For the final step in the recipe Elle took a small circular object out of a drawer, snapped her fingers at it creating sparks, and threw it in, holding the lid tightly to the top. There was what sounded like a small detonation and then she removed the lid and began pouring the food into bowls.

“What was that last thing you put in the pot?”

“Spice bomb. Do people on your world not use them? They’re the best way to evenly distribute the seasoning.”

“People on my world probably shouldn’t be using explosives in their cooking. We have enough accidents with dull knives.”

Congratulations! You’ve completed Help with Dinner!

Reward: Dinner, A New Recipe

I focused on the word recipe and saw the ingredients and steps for the meal listed in front of me. The system clearly wasn’t just meant to make getting stronger easier, it made tracking progress for simple tasks easier as well. I would’ve killed for a system like that at any job I’d worked in the past. It was far easier than dealing with fickle managers and their inability to provide clear instruction followed by their preternatural ability to criticize people for not reading their minds.

I sat at the table and found my knees to sit slightly above it until I crossed my legs. Rockelle placed a bowl in front of me and I dug in. It was an odd blend of flavors and textures, but it wasn’t bad by any means. What most surprised me was how spicy it was. It wasn’t a flavorless heat like I’d experienced sometimes with hot sauces on earth, it reminded me more of a spicy curry. I was on my fifth bowl by the time I realized I hadn’t said a word. It had been longer since I’d eaten than I’d realized.

“It’s very good, thank you.”

She nodded, unable to talk as her mouth was also full.

After we were done Rockelle led me to the bed. As in, the only one in the house. It had clearly once been the cap of a mushroom, but still looked alive and colorful. I looked at it and her, and back at it.

“I can sleep in another room.”

“On Stone? Why would you do that?”

“I just assume you’d prefer to sleep without a strange man in your bed?”

She smiled wryly. “That’s quite an assumption. We just met. How would you know how I like to spend my time?”

“I, uh, didn’t mean to assume.”

She let me squirm and stutter a bit before interrupting me. “It’s normal for us to sleep communally, is that not the case where you’re from?”

“Uh, no, well, it’s not uncommon in some areas, but where I live it’s less normal.”

“Well, consider this a chance to embrace a new culture. I don’t think sleeping on stone will get you ready for the day we’re going to have tomorrow.”

I sighed, tried to push any more lascivious thoughts from my head and squeezed myself onto one half of the bed. I just barely fit, but I had to admit, it was definitely better than sleeping on stone would’ve been.

Rockelle laid down next to me and shamelessly sprawled across it. She was asleep and snoring in minutes. I shivered, apparently blankets weren’t normal for dwarves. It was going to be a long night.

…

The next morning after a quick breakfast we were on our way into the caverns toward the last place there’d been an encounter with stonemen. Rockelle led the way, asking questions about my world and circumstances as we walked. Now that I was starting to settle into my situation I found myself in awe of the caves and caverns as we walked through them.

The main cavern that we were in had beams of sunlight, and mushrooms the size of trees that shed light down from their caps. Strange floors of moss interspersed with more familiar patches of grass and trees that clung to the smaller patches of sunlight that shone down. I saw strange creatures of all kinds skittering against the gloom, but also more familiar ones like bats and rats.

As we were walking I asked Rockelle to continuously snap her fingers and use her ‘spark’ spell and after she’d done so around seventy times I was rewarded.

Congratulations! You’ve learned the spell ‘Spark’.

Spark- Snap your fingers to create a small amount of sparks.

Uses- Unlimited

I tried it for myself, snapping my left then right hand and enjoyed the miniature fireworks. I already had a few practical uses in mind for it, but even the convenience of being able to easily start a fire made it worth it. I wasn’t exactly a woodsman back on Earth, the few campfires I’d made wouldn't have been possible without lighters.

I stopped, feeling my ears twitch. There was something up ahead. I bent down to grab Rockelle by the shoulder and held my finger in front of my mouth. She turned around, a single eyebrow raised at me.

“What?” she asked with no modulation to her voice. Apparently a finger in front of mouth was not a universal gesture.

“I hear something ahead. Be quiet.” I whispered.

We both crouched down and started walking forward more carefully, keeping our eyes and ears open. The noise gradually grew louder until I realized it was speech. I gestured to Rockelle and we ducked behind a small cluster of waist high mushrooms. I drew my dagger.

After we waited for a few moments we saw two dwarves appear. Their skin was dark gray and they wore clothing to match. They blended in well against the stone that surrounded us, but not so well against the mushroom field they stood in. I noticed that one was limping and the other was clutching his arm in pain.

I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the language sounded different from what I’d heard the dwarves in Mykas speak. “What’re they saying?”

“I’m not sure. I recognize some parts of words, but others are different. I definitely heard the word ‘trap’.”

The limping one stopped and held up a hand. His companion that was walking behind him to let him set the pace stopped behind him. Limpy dropped down into something resembling a crouch and started stalking around. I held my breath, and tried to stay as still as possible. Unlike my interview, I could tell I was succeeding. I found that concerning, but went with my standby of pushing it down.

Unlike me I could feel that Rockelle was shaking. I heard her taking deep breaths, trying to keep under control, but it was having a limited effect. To me these were just some people I’d never seen before, but to her these men had attacked her village and kidnapped her people. Maybe the issue was that it just didn’t feel real to me.

They started getting closer, and closer. They were wielding what looked like ice picks that they were using to slowly sift through the bundles of mushrooms. The one with the limp was further away, but the one with the hurt arm was only about a yard away. I tensed as he drew a little closer, readying myself to spring, but then he turned around. I felt myself feeling disappointed. My pulse was up, and I felt like a pot boiling over.

I didn’t let him get far. I leapt at his back and drove my dagger into it. My action surprised me for a number of reasons, but mostly because it didn’t kill him.

He let out a roar and swung around striking in a wide arc with his pick. I dodged backward, barely managing to pull my dagger from his back as I did so. He followed up with two more swings, but my longer legs let me create distance between us before he could reach me.

He overextended a strike and I kicked at his bad arm, making him clutch at it involuntarily, dropping his pick. I lunged at him, but just as I moved his limping friend closed the distance between us.

He struck at me before I could land a decisive blow, but I cast flash step and appeared behind his companion. This time I drove the dagger into the base of the neck. There was a spray of blood and he collapsed into the mushrooms.

The remaining one closed in on me, but I extended my left hand and snapped casting spark directly in his face, and throwing him off balance. I followed up with a punch using the brass knuckle hilt of my dagger and knocked him to the ground.

He tried to roll away, but his hurt arm didn’t let him gain enough leverage to stand back up quickly. I kicked him while he was down and kept kicking until he stopped moving.

When it was over I felt like I should’ve come out of a haze, or stopped seeing red, but I’d never lost control during the fight. It was all as clear to me before as it was after. I was disturbed by my actions, but not the killing itself so much as why I had done it. I'd wanted to fight, and I let that desire throw me into a battle with people I didn't know existed until now. I tried to pin down why, but couldn't. Something had changed, and I couldn't pin down what it was.

I pushed that aside for now and patted myself, searching for wounds, but found none. The skill levels had definitely helped, as had my spell, but it was a messy victory. Without the element of surprise and the fact they’d already been injured, it wouldn’t have been nearly so clean.