DAY 38 Saturday, 8:37am, Lakepoint town.

Nathan was putting the finishing touches on the enchanting circle. My ring would be a plain silver one, clearly the more ornate ones were better off going to paying customers. He put a section of spider webs, dark ash, and moss into the circle with the ring. Then he put on a pair of thick glasses and told me to extinguish the lantern.

Once the room was completely dark he opened the box containing the Shade core and placed it into the circle. The actual enchanting process took less time than the warding rings he had made the other day. Once it was done, I turned the lantern back on and he held out the ring.

“So, I guess I have to be careful not to remove the ring unless someone can cast a Veil on me?”

“Correct. Wear it at all times. It should stop the influence of the Old Ones from eroding your aura, and given time your spirit should recover and strengthen.”

I took the ring and held it up, it did not reflect the light, and had become dull and slightly translucent. The label showed

[Ring of Greater Veiling(Silver) Durability 30/30. Effects: 300% resistance to magical detection. +10% stealth -10% mass except in bright light or contact with gold]

“Will there be any downsides to wearing it?”

“Only if you need to be magically detected, this will make it inconvenient. Don’t get any ideas about banditry, it won’t make you undetectable, they’ll just need to put some effort into it, such as casting a Greater Detection spell.”

“Well, thank you. Is there some way I can repay you?” After a moment of consideration I put the ring on my left pinkie, as I did it adjusted size to fit perfectly.

“If you’ve got three hundred gold that would cover the ring.”

“Ah. Maybe some day. I’ve got some skins from the Shade, are they any use to you?”

“Not until a tailor sews them into something I can enchant. Just find Teefies, if you can, so we can both get some answers out of her.”

“You mentioned the giants to the east? I’ll head that way after I run an errand to the castle. Thanks again.”

I grabbed my stuff, and headed out. First I headed back towards the mine, and asked to see whoever was in charge. They made me wait, so I used the time to meditate and top up my mana. Sleeping only restored a small amount, and I was coming to see that was quickly insufficient unless I wanted to spend days resting.

“Heard you got rid of the Shade last night? What can I do for you?” The foreman was missing his left forearm and leg, but got around quite well with a crutch.

I got out the locket I had taken from the dead miner and held it up.

“Thought his family might appreciate getting this back. Only found one other body, in a cloud of gas so I couldn't get close enough to see who he was.”

“Oh, I've seen Davis wearing that. Good man. I’ll make sure his wife gets this. Here, it’s not much, but take it with our thanks.” He took the locket and handed me a small coin pouch, which felt like it had had a few coins. A handy label popped up, identifying it as 8 gold and 50 silver.

“Thanks. You should be safe down there for now, but I’d recommend giving it a while for the gas to vent out.”

A notification I hadn’t really paid attention to flashed, showing quest completed. Pocketing the gold I left the mine. After some indecision I got out my map. The castle was only about forty kilometers away, if this scale was accurate. With no stops I could probably make that in a day. Trying to find a wagon going that way was tempting, but I had less cash than I was happy with. I did however dig out the House Wolsey armband I had stolen, and put it on over my sleeve. Hopefully that would alleviate some concerns if people saw a lone goblin on the road. While getting ready I noticed that my total health had gone up to 115 and my mana had increased to 65.

Inspired by these increases, albeit minor ones, I decided I could afford some stops along the way if it meant I might be able to grind up some skills. When I was outside the town limits I activated Beastial Rage for the stamina boost and started running.

After a while of this I settled into a cycle. My stamina would be depleted first, so I’d cancel the rage and walk until it regenerated, then I would activate it again and run more. This would deplete my mana, so I’d stop and meditate for an hour.

I got some odd looks from a few occasional travellers, as I’d run past their wagon, and then they’d pass me as I meditated.

Something unusual I noticed is that the numbers given didn't feel entirely accurate. The stamina would be depleted and force me to slow down before I was actually exhausted. By early afternoon I had increased my stamina by another 15 points, and my mana by 10. Fast increases, but it felt more like the system correcting its estimates. Gradually the numbers were getting closer to what it seemed like my actual limits were.

I took a quick detour into the bush, and it didn’t take long to find some rabbits to eat. Now that I had seen the consequences, I was going to try to stay well fed as often as I could.

Several hours later when I stopped for the night I had gained an additional 10 stamina and 15 mana. My Athletics skill was up to 13 and meditation was at 7.

DAY 39 Sunday, 15:07, Castle Greyballs

I had spent most of the morning continuing my training cycle, which looked to be slowing down as the numbers stabilized. Simply doing sprint intervals had to have some sort of limit on it. Nevertheless the result had bumped my Agility up 5 points, as well as my Stamina and Mana by 10 points each.

I slowed to a normal walking pace as I approached the castle, no point being exhausted if the guards decided to arrest me or something.

There was a fairly regular flow of travellers along the road now, and sure enough there were four guards at the gate. The castle was a proper castle, with walls, moat, portcullis, and drawbridge.

Most people passed through without issue, some were asked for their business, such as the merchants with wagons. Predictably they stopped me.

“Halt, state your business in the Castle.”

“I am here on an errand.” I held out my arm to show the armband.

“Is that the sign of House Wolsey? How’d you get that?”

“I helped members of the House on a quest hunting a Barghest. You can ask Arbiter Dolan about that if he has returned.”

“What errand are you on now?”

“I am here for a delivery.”

“Very well. You may enter, but if there’s any funny business you’ll find yourself in the dungeon.” He waved at my clothes, which were indeed splattered with dried blood and bits of burned slime.

Inside the gate it opened up into the market square, and then branched off into many roads. Up ahead the keep rose several stories high, with a large banner that may or may not have been a stylized grey scrotum on a field of blue.

Unfortunately the book on House Rlarian hadn’t mentioned where exactly in here they lived. So I headed into the market, following the smell of food. I picked one selling roast lamb and fascinated his children when I bit through the bone to eat the whole thing.

“Could you point me towards the House Rlarian?”

“The laundry? Good choice. Go towards the keep, second on your left.”

The building itself was slightly run down. The paint had started to peel, a window was boarded over. A long way down from being one of the most prominent Houses in the area.

“Welcome, thanks for choosing Rlarian Laundry. How can I...help you?” The woman behind the counter took a moment to process me. “Bloodstains are 10 silver, repairs are double. Payment up front. One hour.” I had a pretty good idea she was Maria, though the years had not been kind since her portrait. She seemed quite shocked, but forced on a small smile. Probably the best I could hope for given that her dad had been killed by Goblins.

The front area of the building was pretty cramped, due to a short curtain that divided a quarter of it. The rest was filled with a massive countertop and a door leading to the back.

“Sounds good. Should I change behind the curtain?”

“Right you are.”

I went over and changed into my work clothes. In retrospect it would have made a lot more sense to have gotten changed before going to hunt the Shade rather than bloodying my fancy outfit. While I was changing I heard her open the back door and whisper something.

I took my time walking out to put the bundle of clothes on the counter and got out the coins.

“Busy today?”

“Not yet. Still a few hours yet until the castle staff change shift. That’s most of our work.” She picked the armband out of the pile.

“House Wolsey? Oh I haven’t seen one of these since I was a child. You’ve come a long way. I didn’t think they would employ a, well, a goblin.”

She had grabbed something behind the counter and had it ready in her other hand out of sight.

“They were having some problems hunting a beast, I helped them hunt it.”

“What brings you all the way out here?”

Part of me, the extra dumb part, wanted to say ‘I’m here for you.’ but I forced myself to rephrase it so she wouldn’t stab me.

“I’m returning something that had been lost.” With a slow motion I used a finger to lift up the signet ring.

Her face fell when she saw it.

“Oh you beast.”

I took the ring off the sinew and put it on the counter.

“I found that in the ruins of an old campsite. Thought you might want it back.”

Maria had started crying, stumbling backwards against the wall, a knife held limply in her hand. The door opened and two men rushed out, holding clubs. Issac and Isiah I think.

“Hey, what did you do you fucking Gob?” Issac started to come around the counter.

“Did he hurt you?” Isiah asked Maria. She just shook her head and pointed at the ring.

When Issac saw the ring he smashed his club down on the counter beside it

“Where’d you get that? Did you kill him?”

“I didn’t kill your father.” I held my hands up, away from my knife.

“We don’t have any ransom if that’s what you’re after.” Isiah picked up the ring and examined it.

“It’s probably a fake.” Issac said, but he glanced at it with desperate fury.

“It’s got the scratch from where I dropped it. It’s his ring.”

“I found it in the ruins of an old camp. The person wearing it had been dead for decades. I’m not after gold, I just wanted to do a little justice.”

“You’re not trying to ransom it?” Isiah clutched the ring with both hands.

“No. It’s yours.

“Why? You’re a goblin.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“Thank you.”

“Where did you all run off to?” The door opened again and a woman came out, apron wet and hands raw and red. She didn’t seem to match any of the portraits. “Oh gods almighty. What’s going on here?”

“He brought the ring back.” Isiah held it up for her to see.

“What ring? Issac stop waving that club around before you scare off any customers he hasn’t.”

“The signet ring, the one lost when father died.”

“Now’s not the time for jokes.”

“It’s real, Jen.” Maria said quietly.

“I’ll give you some time. I’ll come back later for those clothes.”

They all just stared at me as I left. The shouting started before the door was even closed. With that done, for better or worse, my last task here was at the library.

At the keep entrance the guard looked me over and sniffed

“We’re not hiring. Definitely not.”

“I’m here to visit the library.”

“Your master may use the library themselves, followers may not.”

I held up the House Wolsey armband.

“I’m here on business.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so? Go on. To the right.”

The library itself was two floors high, with a balcony around the upper level and a much larger version of an enchanted lantern hanging from the ceiling. There looked to be several hundred books and scrolls here. When I entered a clerk hurried over.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m looking for instruction books, or manuals, for crafting. To purchase if possible.”

“Purchase? Oh dear, we don’t have many for purchase. Come.”

I followed him through the library, past many scribes working at rows of desks. We arrived at a shelf near the back corner.

“These are the introductory books for crafting, Pellinger’s Carpentry, several copies there, Dooling’s series on tin smithing, several others. A complete set of the Imperial Crafter Guilds Certification first volumes, but only one copy is available at the moment.” He indicated a set of nine fairly substantial leather bound books. All with very official looking engraved titles.

“How much would it be to purchase a new copy of those Imperial ones?”

“Oh a fine choice. We can offer them at eight gold each.”

“If these are the first, how many other volumes afterwards?”

“Three volumes in each discipline. Novice, Journeyman, and Master. Though we have only the first in our collection.”

“How long to make a copy?”

“Three days. Though if you would like multiple copies we can have them all ready at the same time.”

I stuck a hand in my pocket, feeling the coin pouch. Pulling it out I glanced inside, trying not to frown. It was a tough choice being limited to only a few. I’d come here in the first place looking to advance my blacksmithing knowledge, but these were some tempting options.

“Any chance you are willing to do three volumes for twenty two gold if I pay right now?”

“I believe that would be acceptable, Mister?"

“I’m Karl. Could I get a copy of Alchemy, enchanting, and engineering.” I counted the coins out into the smaller pouch the mine foreman had given me and handed it over.

“Excellent choices. Will you be returning to pick these up?

“Yes. Would I be able to read the blacksmithing volume while I’m here?

“Indeed. A ten silver donation is the usual amount.”

I counted out the additional coins and he let me bring the book to an empty desk, and then excused himself with the three I’d chosen for copying. I was now pretty much broke, but hopefully by this time next week I’d be in a better position to start making some real money back. I hadn’t noticed an Alchemist or Enchanter in business in Wolsey, so if I could get started on those I might be able to get my own corner of the market.

The blacksmithing volume reminded me of my school textbook, structured as an introduction, theory, examples, and then instructions for items and how to make them. Many of them such as nails, basic tools, arrowheads, and hinges I already knew how to make. Curious, I opened my skill menu and pushed it to the side so I could still read. When I read the instructions for how to make pipes and basic fittings they popped up in my list, but greyed out rather than bold like the others. With some focus I expanded the entry, and it needed additional ranks in Engineering.

I had suspected it, but this book confirmed that some items required ranks in multiple skills, such as the final example item, a small hand cart, which would require carpentry and engineering to design.

There was also a mention of creating charcoal, which could be crafted using either carpentry or blacksmithing skills.

It seemed like most of the benefits of these books would be gained the first time I read them, which made me regret I hadn’t even checked this before paying. Though, that seemed to be solely for the system granted crafting options, they still had value for the manual ability to understand and create. I supposed I could also just sell them later.

When the clerk came by again I waved him over and asked if I could read the other books, for which he requested another donation. I didn’t want to be completely poor, so I declined. I would need to make some money. If I knew anything about fantasy castles, there should be a board of job postings somewhere. My map of the castle didn’t offer any clues, most of the buildings were not marked in obvious fashion.

I left the library and headed towards the market. After a few questions I found myself going back towards the keep, but behind the laundry. There was a board at the inn with papers pinned to it. Most of them were clearly outside the scope of my abilities. Civil uprisings to the south and a call for militia, drought to the north, nude models to be painted, an athletic female corpse of less than age 40 not dead more than 6 hours. A few looked worth a closer inspection. Coyotes attacking chickens at a farm to the south east, a prize bull who had run off into the hills in the same area, handyman wanted for home renovations. I grabbed the two animal related ones. Neither offered more than 60 silver reward, but it was better than nothing and with my nose they’d be quick. The coyotes had a bounty of 5 silver each on proof of death, up to 50 total. If I could keep the skins I might be able to make some extra money.

Several adventuring types were milling around the place, drinking, celebrating, planning, mourning. There was a lot of elbow nudging and glancing my way. A few looked ready to come at me, held back by their friends. I could imagine many of them had spent time killing goblins, or lost friends.

I was curious about whether I could find a group to go out with, but judging from some of the attitudes, I might not make it back after leaving the eyes of the watching guards. Going alone might be safer, even if I would be on my own.

Before going out there I wanted to stop by the laundry and get my clothes back. Hopefully I wouldn’t be walking into a family feud. Isiah was waiting for me outside the laundry, and brought me inside and locked the door behind us. The place was considerably more crowded. It looked like all the Rlarian kids were here, with a few others that might be spouses.

Sitting casually on the counter was a god. He looked human, although with pure silver skin, flowing white hair, eye searingly blue silk clothes, and enough buffs and auras floating around him to make me dizzy. As Jordan said, he was indeed much more shiny than me.

“Yo, dude. You found my ring?” He hopped off the counter, and then frowned “Oh, they said you were a goblin but I hoped that was a new illusion pack. Thought you were a player.”

“You’re Arvyen?” My heart was pounding and I was feeling a little lightheaded.

“Sure am. Who do you follow?”

“Teefies?” It seemed less dangerous than saying nobody at all. Luckily he laughed.

“Oh I should have known it was her. She got you trained up good to be playing fetch. Anyways, gotta run.” His eyes flickered a bit, and with a gesture he stepped backwards into a portal that appeared and disappeared in a flash. The feeling of so much mana being used so quickly nearly made me choke.

“Wait, I…” I looked around helplessly, waving a hand through the empty space.

“They do that.” Monica grabbed my neatly folded clothes from the counter and brought them over. There was a small coin pouch on top. “We are all very grateful. It’s not much, but with the ring back we can rejoin the council of Lords. Someday soon we will hopefully be able to properly repay you.”

“Thanks.” I took the bundle. The pouch held 13 gold and 75 silver. Not much, but more than I had now. I was still reeling, I had met a god, a player, and I had missed my chance to ask him what was going on. I couldn’t decide if it was a bad thing he had thought I was a Follower. What would he have done if I knew I was some kind of freak, or mistake, or whatever I was. He had been interested enough in the idea of a new illusion effect that he had come here in person. If they found out I was actually trapped in this body they might tear me apart to find out how. Or report me to the moderator and I might get deleted like a line of bad code.

Confronting them now was a mistake. He could have probably torn me in half. That portal spell probably cost thousands of mana to cast, and he had used it without even really noticing.

I stumbled out the door. I needed to get out of here. If he came back I was doomed. I needed to train, to get ready to defend myself. How long would that take? These gods all seemed to have been here for decades if not centuries. Surely that wasn’t real time, unless enough time had passed that we'd hit the singularity and become immortal. But if time was somehow accelerated here that would be a world shaking revolution if people could llive centuries. If this was some game, maybe some really long-running one, more than twenty years would be unimaginable. The tech changed too fast. Nothing like this had even existed the last time I checked, surely I would have heard about something this groundbreaking if it had been in development. How long had I been unconscious, and how had I even gotten in here? Even if the university’s research into brain interfaces had a breakthrough, a game like this would take years of development. Any sort of mental acceleration would take even longer and break more physics than I could even remember. Had I been in a coma for decades? Surely if this was some kind of therapy option for communicating with people in comas I would have woken up with someone else there. A nurse or lawyer or something. Not flung into a cave to be reborn as a goblin.

Clutching my clothes, I walked out of the castle in a daze. This might all be a mistake, and I could get erased at any time.

I was outside the walls when an idea came to me. I stopped in the middle of the road, as something I had forgotten rushed back to me. Outside Wolsey, by the farm fields, when the world stopped and it felt like I was being torn apart, had that been a server update? Would I survive the next one? It had been thirty days after I woke up here. If that continued it would happen again in eleven days.

Steeling myself, I stuffed the clothes into my pack and set out for the farm. I was going to find this damn cow.