On the ride to the mine, Hensley began telling me all sorts of stories about when he was young like me, and how he used to be a missionary that traveled all over the Kingdoms. I mostly tried to ignore him at first, as most of the stories were very ordinary and boring, but being forced to partially listen anyway—since I was sitting right beside him—I eventually just started to actively listen to him.

I quickly learned through his missionary stories that Hensley was a good guy, or at least sounded like one from his stories about helping hundreds of poor and injured people he came across in the Kingdoms. And having actually listened, I learned that Hensley specifically used to be a missionary for the Church of the Twin Goddesses.

“I remember Rayna used the expression ‘Oh Goddesses’ when she saw Sherry again, that must be where it comes from.” Remembering that from last night, and then thinking “I wonder what other religions there are in this world.” Hensley began recalling more memories of his youth, and one of them really stood out to me; it was a story about how he saved an injured cyclops and befriended it, with the name of the cyclops really sticking in my head, Oros. “Where have I heard that name before?” Trying to recall it but failing.

Hensley then started a story about how he stopped being a missionary earlier than most, all because of a woman he came across on one of his missions; a woman who would eventually become his wife. Hensley gushed all about her for what felt like 20 whole minutes. He talked about how they fell in love, got married, and moved to the quiet and small town of Asheton; he ended the story, saying “The town has grown and changed a lot since then, but it’s still the same place we happily chose to live in. My wife at her stand selling fruits in the marketplace, and myself working as a gravekeeper in the town’s cemetery.”

My ears perked up when I heard his wife worked at a stand selling fruits, “I think I might have met your wife, Mr.Hensley.” I said, addressing him politely, and deciding to give him respect as my elder.

“Oh?” Then describing the old woman I bought all the fruits from to the best of my memory, Mr.Hensley’s eyes lit up and he said, “That’s her! She told me about a young handsome elven man who gave her a Gold and bought all the fruits in her stand yesterday, was that really you?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was me.” Thinking, “Though I didn’t mean to buy all of the fruits.”

“Wow, what a small world!” Hensley said, laughing a little.

Chuckling at the coincidence too, I was feeling more comfortable around Mr.Hensley after listening to him for a while, and I said to him “Hey Mr.Hensley, do you know what a System is? Or maybe a Menu?” Already knowing that Npcs were very much aware of Dungeons from my talk with Rayna, and that they were aware of Levels from the talk with Drune.

“Huh? What weird questions to ask.” He said, looking at me strangely, “And of course I do, how could I not? We are born with it after all.”

“They’re born with it? How interesting.” Then saying to him, “I know it’s weird to ask, but can you tell me more about it? Like what it can do? or how it works?”

Hensley curiously stared at me, and said “I can, but you know you haven’t even introduced yourself to me yet.”

“Oh, sorry, my name is Eyes.” Introducing myself and holding my hand out for a shake.

Hensley laughed at my gesture, saying “Your name is just as weird as your questions, but it’s nice to meet you Eyes.” As he happily shook my hand. “Now about your questions, what would you like to know?”

“Everything really,” I answered honestly, “but anything you can tell me will be great.”

Scratching his full head of darkish grey hair, Hensley said “Uhhh...I’m not sure I’m the person to ask to get the answers you're clearly looking for about the System, but I’ll try my best and tell you what I know.”

“Thank you, and it’s okay, my reasons aren’t as deep as you think they are.” I assured him, only really wanting to know a little bit more about the System’s effect on this world.

“If you say so.” He said, pausing before starting to explain. “Happening a little over a millennia and a half ago, it is storied that the System was the last creation and gift given from a God who's name has long been lost and forgotten through the passing of time. A gift that has filled and affected the entirety of the world with unexplainable and immeasurable power; from the many unique creatures that live in it, to vast and disverse landscapes." Then mentioning, "Though with that being said, even if that is the most known story about the origin of the System, it may not even be true. As for us Humans, that time was especially long ago, with basically all of Humankind not believing any stories over a millennia old to be true.” I was about to interrupt but I let Mr.Hensley continue, “And I believe even the long living Races of the Elves and the Dwarves feel slightly the same, as even with their much longer lifespans, none seem to have any written or recorded history to confirm the origin of the System.”

“A fake origin story? I would usually wanna try to guess who made up such a story and why, but it’s probably just the Admin trying to make the world seem more interesting and mysterious, so I doubt it's anything.” Still listening.

“Though whether you believe the story to be true or not, it’s undeniable that the System was a gift from a very powerful Godly being or beings, and as such most people choose to believe it was a gift from one or both of the Goddesses.”

“Okay, that’s great to know and all, but I was more wondering about what the System does?”

“I was just about to get to that.”

“Oh, sorry, please continue.” Smiling and gesturing for him to continue, thinking “I should’ve expected Mr.Hensley to ramble a little from all the stories he was telling earlier.” As he happily continued.

“There’s a lot about the entire System that we don’t know about yet and how it affects the world, like why exactly it decides to form Dungeons for Monsters, but we do know that it helps us grow and become stronger.”

“How?”

“Ummm...it gives us the Menu where we can see our Name, Species, Level, Class, Stats, and Skills, and it’s the last 4 that makes us stronger.” Explaining, “After killing a lot of things, our Level eventually increases, and with it our Stats. The Stats increase being mostly dependent on the person’s Class, but even obtaining a Class is hard to do without a lot of hard work and dedication to obtain one, with most ordinary people never even getting one in their lifetime. But once someone does obtain a Class, they can develop and learn Skills related to it, with some more hard work and dedication. Then lastly not being in the Menu, someone’s natural born talent plays a really big factor in all 4 categories.”

“Wait, that was a lot, are you saying your Skills are on the same Menu as your Stats? What about your Inventory, Quests, and Social Menus? Also you didn’t mention seeing the Subclasses, Titles, Bonuses, Statuses, and the Available Points on the Menu?” I questioned.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about, and why are you acting like you don't already know this very common knowledge?”

I held up a finger to tell Mr.Hensley to give me a moment to think and luckily he did, “Interesting, so Npcs also have their own Menus, but it sounds like it might be a simplified version of the Player’s Menus, with them missing some features that Players have, but I think it still functions overall the same as ours, though I do wonder about the exact differences are.” Then having an idea, I said “Hey Mr.Hensley, can you tell me what my right hand is doing?” As I used my right hand to reach into my Inventory and partially pull out a piece of armour.

“Eyes, you might just be the strangest person I’ve ever met.” He said, laughing at my strangeness, “And isn’t your right hand just reaching into the air?

“You're absolutely right.” Thinking, “It does make sense that an Npc can’t see my Menu either, but it also looks like they can’t see an item I grab out of my Inventory unless I completely pull it out. That could be very useful.” Then saying to Mr.Hensley, “Thank you for humouring my ‘strangeness’, and I’d love to hear any more of your stories.”

“No problem, you took my Request the day I made it, and that saved me days of waiting for the usual picky adventurers to accept it.” Mr. Hensley then suddenly became excited, “Oh! I just remembered a hilarious story that happened a few weeks ago.” As he started to tell me another story, I only partially listened—though looking like I was completely listening—while I tried to figure out how to make my Inventory Menu appear anywhere I wanted it to, and not just always in my face like the other Menus.

Approaching the sign for the mine, Mr.Hensley slowed the horse and cart a little, and drove down the path leading to the mine. When we arrived at the clearing, I took it as a good sign that everything was still the same as I left it, with the 9 goblin corpses being exactly where they were yesterday, and no new visible tracks on the ground.

Parking the cart next to the cave entrance, Mr.Hensley and I hopped off, and he asked “Are all the bodies inside?” Moving towards the entrance.

“They are, but I think you should wait outside for now.” I suggested, using my hand to block from going inside, “Let me go check out the mine first and make sure it's safe.”

“Sounds good, I’ll just turn the cart around while I wait.” Mr.Hensley said, making his way back onto the cart.

Taking out my cloak from my Inventory, I started to tightly wrap it around my face—covering my nose and mouth to help reduce the stench of blood—then also taking out Infinity, I strapped it to my back, took a bow out, and headed down the mine. Carefully checking the left side first, I found that there were no signs of monsters, and the corpses were the same as yesterday, but slightly smelling worse; it was the same for the right side of the mine. I then heard a barely audible shout of pain and a horse’s loud neigh coming from outside, and I knew Mr.Hensley was in trouble.

Immediately activating Sprint, I ran as fast as I could back up the mine, and found Mr.Hensley with an arrow stuck deep into his left shoulder, and the horse restlessly trying to get free from the cart. Looking past them, I saw 2 goblins riding a wolf, and they were pacing back and forth blocking the path out of the clearing. It was an ordinary grey furred wolf, but the goblins on its back were wearing a lot of old pieces of armour. I could see that the goblin in the front was holding a spear in one hand and the fur of the wolf in the other, and had a shield and a sword on its back; with the one in the back simply having a bow in hand and quiver on its back.

Quickly focusing, their Levels showed: Lv.5 Wolf, Lv.8 Goblin Rider, and Lv.6 Goblin Archer. “What the hell! These goblins are basically the same Level as the Dungeon Boss from yesterday.” The goblin archer then shot another arrow at Mr.Hensley, but still having Sprint activated, I jumped in front of Mr.Hensley and used my armourless body to block the shot—the arrow piercing into my back, and making me lose 53 Health. “Urgh...” I groaned, deactivating Sprint, and quickly telling Mr.Hensley “The mine is clear, take the horse and stay inside, I’ll deal with the goblins.” Mr.Hensley nodded and ran to untie the horse from the cart.

Seeing us doing something, the goblin rider tugged on the wolf’s fur, and it started to run towards Mr.Hensley. Needing to keep it distracted while Mr.Hensley untied the horse and went inside, I decided to run a little away from them, and fired a 4 arrow Rapid Shot to get the wolf’s and the goblins’ attention—2 at the wolf, and 1 at each goblin. Though not carefully aiming, the arrows deflected off both of the goblins' armour, but the arrows did pierce into the wolf’s hide, and it was enough to get all of their attention.

The wolf then charged towards me instead of Mr.Hensley, as I could see the rider lifting his spear, and readying to attack me with it. Running around the clearing and trying to wait until I knew Mr.Hensley was out of danger, the wolf was closing in on me, and giving a quick glance over my shoulder, I could see the spear thrust coming straight towards me. Reactively using Ranger’s Dash, I moved back and to the side of the wolf—easily dodging the spear attack and the charging wolf—and then shot a 3 arrow Spread Shot into the wolf’s body, causing it to whimper in pain.

Angry from my attack, the wolf turned around and tried to take a bite at me, but already dashing away again, it missed. Chasing right after me, I could hear the goblins talking to each other, as I then heard the string of a bow being pulled back. The moment I heard the arrow being released from the string, I dashed to the side once again and dodged the arrow shot, but this time when I turned around to attack them, I found the wolf leaping into the air above me. Not reacting fast enough, the wolf landed on top of me and used its paws to pin me down.

Once I was pinned, I immediately tried to Ranger’s Dash away, but it surprisingly didn’t work at all and just consumed my Mana. “Oh no, can I not use the Skill if I'm restrained?” I thought, struggling to get from under the wolf. The wolf then opened its mouth and was about to bite on my head, but I was barely able to free my arms in time—getting a few cuts from the claws they were under—as I then held each side of my bow, and used it to hold the wolf’s mouth back. Instantly I could see the bow beginning to crack and break, and then leaning right over the head of the wolf was the goblin rider readying to stab his spear down into me. My eyes widened, as I quickly let go of the bow and pulled myself directly under the wolf's belly—barely dodging the spear and the wolf's bite.

Using all my strength, I freed both my legs from underneath the wolf, and instantly used 2 consecutive Ranger’s Dashes to get away. “That was a close one.” I thought to myself, then not seeing Mr.Hensley outside, I smirked at the wolf and goblins, “Looks like I don’t have to worry anymore.” Grabbing another bow from Infinity.

Running back and creating distance, I shot a few more arrows at the wolf and the goblins, but only the charging wolf got hit by them, as the goblins leaned their bodies to the side to avoid the arrows. With the fast speed of the wolf, they quickly closed the distance I created, and they all attacked at once; the wolf completely missed its bite as I dashed just out of reach, but another arrow dug into my back, and the spear barely reached and pierced slightly into my back. Once I felt the pain of the attacks, I instantly used some more dashes to create distance, and I noticed my Stats.

Health: 389/525 Mana: 193/350 Stamina: 4/350

“Oh, shit! I didn’t even realize my Stats were that low, I better end this.” I thought to myself, with the wolf circling and running around me, and the goblin archer starting to draw another arrow. Though with the distance, I easily dodged the arrow he shot, and responded with a Turning Arrow in the counter direction of the wolf’s running; the rider seeing it dodged his body to the side, but the arrow struck the goblin archer right in the chest—he was too distracted trying to shoot another arrow at me. To my surprise the goblin archer’s body fell limp from the wolf’s back, and I finally noticed a broken hand axe was already embedded deep into the goblin archer’s back.

“What—” Before I could think the goblin rider gave out a yell and he pulled the fur of the wolf, and directed it to charge at me. Dashing to the side of the wolf again, I drew 2 arrows out of Infinity, and casted Twin Arrow on both; shooting the 2 arrows, they became 4 in the air, and they all landed close to the wolf’s neck. The wolf let out such a sad pained whimper and its body collapsed onto the ground bleeding out, tossing the rider off it. Getting up right away, the goblin then said something I couldn’t understand and I watched it throw its spear with such surprising speed that I couldn’t even react to it in time, as it landed and pierced right into my chest cavity, and dug the whole tip of the spear inside of me.

It was the most pain I’ve ever felt at once, more than the Race Change, and more than the attack of the Armoured Skeleton in the Combat Tutorial. Seeing that it took out 313 Health and only left me 76 Health, and I thought “This is not good.” Feeling extremely woozy, and coughing out blood into the cloak that was still covering my mouth. Quickly dashing back 2 times to create some distance, the goblin rider started to laugh hysterically at me, as it grabbed the sword and shield from its back and ran towards me. Not having enough Mana, I used my last bit of strength to shoot another arrow, but the goblin rider simply blocked it with its shield—the arrow did partially pierce through, but the goblin looked to have enjoyed the pain from it.

Trying to crawl away, I thought “Fuck, I should’ve played this fight better, if only I had more Mana and Stamina.” Though still not giving up, I continued to shoot arrows at the approaching goblin who also continued to block them, “Note to self, if I make it out of this, invest some points to help Mana and Stamina.” With the goblin now standing over me, it raised its sword to strike down on me, but its eyes suddenly filled with fear as it looked past me. Holding up its shield and hiding itself behind it, I heard and felt something flying incredibly fast behind me; a second later I watched a javelin fly straight over my head, completely shattering the shield of the goblin, and pierce straight through its head.

Congratulations you have Leveled Up! All Stats have increased by 1, and you have gained 10 Available Points.

Ignoring the already expected replenishing surge of golden light when I Leveled Up—as it rapidly healed all my wounds—I immediately looked behind me to see a familiar light red haired woman, who was wearing a basically broken set of starting Fighter armour, and the same unique ram horn helmet I saw in the Tutorial.

She walked towards me and extended her hand out, asking “Are you alright?”

Laughing a little, I said “I guess it really is a small world.”