That wasn’t good.

My HP bar flashed in the upper left of my vision. HP: 275/350. Ack, that’s right. Gotta remember to turn that off, or I’ll ~fucking die~. With a thought, Lightning in a Bottle deactivated.

All of the electricity, power, and euphoria that came with it disappeared in a flash. The roaring pain of my broken arm replaced them. I hissed, falling to my knees as I gently held it.

[Debuff; Broken Arm. Your arm is broken. -10 STR, -50% attack. Duration: 18 hours.]

“Shit! Shit!”

Chosen Emmanuel, just so that you are aware, Slade Haggerd has 25 seconds until he expires. I will not judge you if you allow him to expire. He did attack you first.

I threw my head back and groaned. “UUuuuuugh!” Letting go of my broken left arm, I pushed myself off of the ground with my right. I slung my normal pack off my shoulders, dropping it onto the ground. I crouched, hurriedly tearing open the bottommost pouch.

I shoved my hand in, yanking out the two potions I had. Biting into the cork of one, I used my teeth to rip it out and downed it in one quick shot.

[Tier One Lesser Potion: Instantly recover 50 HP.]

My HP filled to 335/350, and a soothing wave of relief washed down my arm. There were a couple of quick pops as the fractured parts of my arm put themselves back together, the nasty purple bruise that had been forming fading away.

I whipped my head to look at Slade. His HP had already dropped to 100/616. Twenty seconds until he bled out.

I grimaced, my teeth grinding together. Damn it! Why was I even worried about this? Syscile said it! This asshole attacked me first. He was going to murder me for a shiny book! Hell, I probably should fucking kill him!

And yet.

Just letting him die felt so wrong. Now don’t get me wrong! I am not that kind of hero who thinks every villain deserves a second chance. Absolutely not. But this was literally the first thing that’s happened to me on this adventure. Do I really want to set a precedent by killing the very first guy I interact with?

No. Not really.

I hurried over to Slade, crouching by his head. His HP was at 75/616. Gritting my teeth, I picked up his head.

Chosen Emmanuel, I regret to inform you that that potion will not work.

What? Why the hell not?

It was in the notification, that due to the ‘Crushing Blow’ you have delivered to his liver, he must be healed to at least fifty percent of his maximum hit points before he stops bleeding. You did rupture his whole liver after all.

“Augh! Are you serious!?” I yelled to (not at, there’s a difference) Syscile, too frustrated to keep it in my head. She bobbed once. “God damn it!”

I almost slammed the potion on the ground in rage, but held it in.

Right, just gotta search Slade real quick. I’m sure he has potions on him. I patted him down. He didn’t have a bag that I could see.

I tried Examine, continuing to push mana into my eyes even after the initial five MP was paid. Come on, come on, let me find something!

[New Subsidiary Ability Acquired! Loot Finder Lvl 1. With a bit of extra juice, and a good application of intent, you have created the Loot Finder ability. A deviation of the standard Examine ability, Loot Finder focuses on the more important things in life. Like finding copious amounts of treasure! Highlights objects of significance in a given area that you can see. Higher levels increases the area Loot Finder covers, and its ability to see through material and magical objects. Cost: 20 MP/sec. Note: Loot Finder level is limited to the level of Examine]

My view of the world shifted. The whole thing, except for Slade, turned a dark blue. Slade, however, turned entirely black. After a second, three items began to shine. A ring on his right hand, some kind of holster on the left side of his hip, and his hat. Its job done, I cut the flow of mana to my eyes, deactivating Loot Finder.

I pawed at his hip, grabbing and ripping at the holster. I could loot the ring and his stupid hat after I saved his life. The holster was secured with a small clip that snagged for a second, then snapped off.

Chosen Emmanuel, his HP is at 45. You have another eight seconds.

“GOD DAMN IT!” I screamed at the unmoving body of Slade Haggerd. I didn’t have enough time to search his stupid pack!

“You are lucky I’m the goddamn……uuugh!” I hissed at him, letting go of his holster and simultaneously digging my hand into my brand new item pouch. “You fuckin’——arrrrgh!”

I grabbed the one item I had in there, my Tier Two Lesser Potion. The one I had gotten no more than an hour ago. I ground my teeth together as I pulled it out, the magically infused red liquid inside glowing faintly in the gloom of the alley. I gripped the wavy textured bottle tightly, ripping the bronze capped cork stopper out of it.

Three seconds.

Grabbing Slade’s head, I lifted it up and forced his mouth open. Then I unceremoniously dumped the potion that had probably cost my folks months of hard labor down his bastard throat. Part of me hoped he fucking choked on it.

[You have used -Tier Two Lesser Potion- on Slade Haggerd. He recovers 500 HP. Current HP: 510/616. Slade Haggerd has recovered from his ‘Crushing Blow’, and is no longer suffering the effects of Bleed Out Lvl 1.]

Slade’s chin glowed a dull red for a second before returning to normal. His chest glowed bright red, accompanied by a series a loud pops as his ribs stitched back together. He didn’t return to consciousness, but the notice said he was fine, so I was done with him.

More notifications popped up. Like five of them.

Ugh, no.

Syscile, can you put those away for later?

Of course, and I will set them to ‘Manual Check’ for the future. Now they will only appear once you wish.

Thanks bunches.

The bundle of notifications disappeared down into the bottom right of my vision, collapsing into a little bubble that sat there blinking every couple of seconds. Neat.

Now, with any possible moral conundrums safely handled, I looted Slade, taking the ring off of his finger and picking whatever that holster was up off the ground. This asshole tries to murder me and take my shit, the least I can do is take his. I mean for fuck’s sake, that potion was valuable! I needed his stuff to recoup the loss. He can consider it the cost of treatment.

Left him his hat though. I wasn’t much of a hat guy.

After I yoinked Slade’s stuff, I stood, turning to face the alley way exit back to main street.

There was a crowd of about twenty people watching us. I waved to them and called out, “Hey there folks, shows over, thanks for watching! You can go home now.”

The crowd didn’t move. Every eye was on me, Syscile, or Slade. Goddamn it. That probably wasn’t good.

I activated Lightning in a Bottle twice, willing to pay the HP to get them to clear out quick. I lit up just like before.

“I said shows over. You all can go. Now.”

Intimidate Success!

-You have intimidated Commoner A!

-You have intimidated Commoner B!

-…

-…

-You have intimidated Commoner S!

That was much more effective. They got the message and scattered, leaving me, Syscile, and Slade. Another couple of notifications filed themselves away under the bubble.

HP: 285/350

I deactivated the ability, shaking my head. Damn, ten hp a second was a lot. I’d have to find some way to deal with that. That could come later though.

Turning to Syscile, I waved my hand in the general area of the street. People were still looking at us as they walked by. Thankfully, a couple of tier ones fighting down in the Fifth wouldn’t be enough of a problem for the guards to get worked up about.

Right. So, now that we’ve realized the big elephant in the room that is you, could you turn into something a little more on the down low?

Syscile bobbed in the air. Once, twice, three times. The giant golden tome began to grow fuzzy and indistinct, the air around it getting thick. She began shifting, shrinking. After a few seconds it was done.

Wow.

Syscile was now totally different. She’d gone from a huge, almost obnoxiously fancy flying tome, to something much more humble. A small maroon notepad, lovingly used with clearly thumb marked pages. A little copper clasp buckled the front shut. She clattered to the floor, no longer flying.

I stooped down, picking her up and giving her a good once over.

Oh yeah, this is great. You look exactly like the kind of hand-me-down Journal most poor kids get.

Thank you. I sifted through some of your memories to create a good match.

I nodded, slipping Syscile towards the mouth of my bag of holding, and into the bag she went.

I took one more look at the unconscious form of Slade Haggerd, fighting the urge to kick him. This guy. This fucking guy. I hope I never met him again, or he’d end up sorry.

“Ptoo!” I spit on him, then left.

I walked out of that alley with a spring in my step and a newly confidant swagger as I resumed my journey to the Tranport Hub.

From the alley I fought Slade in, it would take about another hour of walking to get to the Hub. Heh, I wonder how much I could cut that down if I used my Blessing. A ton, probably. Even to me that seemed super irresponsible though. If only I had the HP to burn, right?

I kept my guard up for a few minutes afterwards, worried that Slade was gonna wake up and just come right after me again, but he didn’t. As a matter of fact, nothing at all of note happened. Well, that’s not quite true. I got two more *dings* while I was walking, but I didn’t bother to check them just then.

An hour later, as Novas was just starting its transition to mid-day light levels and I neared the Hub, I sent out a thought to Syscile.

Hey Syscile, can you read me those notifications I have waiting now that we're here?

Of course. Here you are.

———————————————-

-You have defeated Slade Haggerd, Lvl 8. You gain 65% progress to level two!

-Congratulations! You have defeated your first opponent, unlocking the Achievable system as well as the ‘First Strike’ achievable. Achievables are special milestone markers and challenges created by His Majesty in order give you some things to strive for, as well as provide positive feedback on your journey. You will find a list of all achievables (though there are secret ones!) in your Journal.

-’First Strike’: Defeat your first enemy. “The first of muh-henny. Take this, you’ll need the help.” Gain +10 Maximum HP. Current HP: 360/360.

-Congratulations! You have earned the ‘Body Breaker’ achievable: Deliver (1) Crushing Blow. “Ouch, now that had to hurt.” Gain +1 STR. Total Strength: 19

-Congratulations! You have earned the ‘Level Schmevel’ achievable: Defeat an opponent with a level of five or more higher than yours. “Nice job kid! That’s what I’m here for.” Gain a +5% multiplicative EXP and DMG bonus when fighting opponents five or more levels above you.

-Spark Jab has leveled up to level two! Gains (.01) physical damage bonus (Total 1.11) and a (.5%) lightning damage bonus (Total 15.5%). Recoil increases by .5% (Total: 5.5%). MP cost increases to 23 MP.

-You have gained a Character Trait! Life Saver Lvl 1: You have saved someone’s life! That’s nice of you. Effect: You gain a 5% bonus to all healing, given and received.

-You have gained a Character Trait! Merciful Lvl 1: When your enemy was at your mercy, you allowed them to live. Effect: Gain Significant Positive Karma. Karma affects many things, including luck, reputation gains, and available quests. As Chosen, you should really try and stay away from bad karma.

-Your beatdown of SLade Haggard was witnessed by many people! You gain 55 Reputation points! No one learned your name (Thankfully), but the image of a young man coated in lightning delivering a brutal blow like that, and then saving his opponent's life is definitely one that will start floating around.

-Minor Skill Intimidate Lvl 1 has leveled to Lvl 3!

-Minor Skill Walking Lvl 1 has leveled to Lvl 3!

—————————————

Whew, lot of good stuff there. I felt my muscles swell just a little from the one extra strength, and the extra health made me breathe just a bit easier. That’s really cool. They weren’t much, but all those individually bonuses could make a huge difference if I earned enough of them. Needless to say (but I’m going to anyway), I would be very interested in doing some Achievable grinding while out on the road.

The street opened up wide, letting out into an area called Hillstone Plaza. It was several hundred feet wide, and one of the few places in the Fifth Ring where the buildings had plenty of breathing room. Trees dotted the space, along with various types of flowering plants that waved in the breeze. The plaza was centered around an old adventurer supply store simply called ‘Hillstone’s Supplies’. It was a popular meeting spot, and the most interesting building in Ring Five. Not because of the actual building itself mind you, though it was distinctly old, it was still just a normal family store.

A well built brick and mortar, two story building, with two big full pane windows, one on each side of the brown wooden door. A clover green awning was mounted half-way up to provide shade for window shoppers. The second story was where the Hillstone family lived, and only had a couple of small windows. No, what was interesting was that the family, store, and plaza namesake, the Hillstone, was very much a real thing. Not a small stone that sat on their front porch, or whatever.

The Hillstone was a twenty foot tall boulder.

Stories say that the original Old Man Hillstone, generations of generations ago, fed up with all of his business being taken by the easy convenience of stores closer to the Gate, decided that he needed a mascot. So he, being a retired Tier Three adventurer, went out to the great rolling hills that surround the capital city of Rapella. And there, he found his perfect match. A stone “the size of a hill.” A literal hill-stone.

He easily lugged it all the way back to the city, and (zoning and building regulations being basically non-existent) just plopped it right there, on the ground. No one ever said Old Man Hillstone wasn’t crazy, and a lot more people started saying he was after that. It did its job though, and began drawing crowds of people who wanted to see the stupid big rock that was just sitting there. It made for great shade too.

Anyway, other folks wanted to start setting up shop, but they all had to plan around the Hillstone, which is how we got the wide open space of the plaza.

A few thousand feet past Hillstone Plaza, Main Street opened up once more, letting traffic out into the Travel Hub.

If I had to describe the Travel Hub in a single word, it’d be: BUSY, full caps. The Travel Hub officially included the Transporter, The Gate, and all of the hundreds of shops in between. The Hub encompassed an area of over five miles, though it was wider than it was long. And it was packed. People who don’t like crowds better stay the hell away.

And the Gate was, well, the Gate.

Unless you had some very special permissions, the Gate was the only way or out of Rapella, period. Bad things happened if you tried to fly or teleport in, for instance. Like you would blow up bad.

The Gate wasn’t that tall, only about thirty feet compared to the two hundred foot tall wall it was set into. However, it was incredibly wide, a five hundred foot wide maw that led out into the open world. Instead of giant, impractically wide doors, The Gate was comprised of hundreds of white metal barriers that would drop down from The Gate’s ceiling whenever it was closed. These barriers, made of a special metal called ‘Brightsteel’, layered up dozens of feet deep, repelling entire armies of monsters with ease. Of course, events like that—called Rampages—were incredibly rare, and I’d never actually seen one myself, but that’s how the books said they worked.

The Transporter was smack dab in the middle of the Hub, with the Gate not too far past it. The Transporter itself had a deceptively simple appearance. It was on a square stone platform about ten feet high, perfectly smooth steps leading up. There were no walls to the Transporter, each corner adorned with a massive marble column.

The Transportation Circle, the part that actually gets everyone from place to place, was deceptively simple looking. The portal itself was an impossibly complex magical formula made from golden runes. It was comprised of circles in circles, triangles in squares, crosses, all of them connecting together in a way that made my eyes spin trying to follow. Aside from that though, there were no other decorative parts to get in the, allowing maximum crowd access.

People streamed in and out of the Transporter at every hour of the day to use the portal. There was never a time when it wasn’t being used by at least a hundred people. Despite that, it was an incredibly easy and fast process to teleport. Simply find a free space to stand on any part of the spacious golden portal, and think ‘Transport.’

Which is just what I did.

A prompt popped up in front of me. It read ‘Please Pick Your Ring’, then One through Five. One (Home to King Sam only) and Two (Where all of the most noble families lived) were grayed out. Both needed special passes to get in, while Three through Five were open for all travelers.

I mentally selected Ring Four.

*SWOOOOOOOOSH* A deep rush of wind sounded.

The world turned into light, and we were off.