Jim's PoV

Davis had offered to help him find the inn, but Jim declined. He already knew exactly where it was and by the man's body language he really wanted to get Maria home safe. As he started making his way to the inn he figured he might as well cast Sense Lv2 on everything on the way. Man he wanted to summon lightning or fire to smite his enemies. The idea of people having magical powers always fascinated him. It would be nice if he could try out some magical powers before going into crunch mode. Also if he was able to delete the game without hurting himself, he wasn't sure if he would have the courage to upload a new game. Version 2.0 would need a lot of work and he wasn't going to upload another shoddy product.

Once Jim took a few steps away he looked at the little wolf demons at his feet. He checked with Lv2 Sense again and it still showed they were completely loyal to him. Nice! Operation: Bodyguard was still looking good. He casted it both on Davis and Maria and found the added text it said was interesting. For Maria she was level 2 and the readout said that she trusted him. For Davis he was level 10 and the read out said that he owed Jim a life debt, whatever that was. Shrugging Jim began to cast it on everyone he could see. All in all the extra information was not impressive. Well, that was until he met a teenage boy running up to him with a smile. Jim thought nothing of it but when he read that the boy was level 6 and that he wanted to eat Jim's dogs that opinion changed real quick. The little bastard looked so genuinely happy when he was looking at the pups and trying to pet them. Apparently the dog's instincts were a lot better than his because they started to growl at him. The boy looked up to Jim and asked "Can I play with your dogs mister! Please! There is a great field they can run around in that is not too far away! I'll bring them right back after their tired I swear!"

Jim couldn't help but reread the text multiple times while he looked at the teenager that was pleading with him. Jim smiled. Even if the kid was level 6, his best stat was 18 in strength. Giving the boy and evil smile he said "Sure kid. have fun with them. I want them back in an hour."

The teen must have sensed his hostility. Also his dogs started pawing the ground, and to the boy's surprise massive swaths of earth were being scraped up with each pass. After only a few seconds each pup seemed to have a couple gouges that were almost a foot deep. With large eyes the teen said nervously "Actually I think my mom wanted me home soon, Thanks mister!"

Sheesh. Youths these days. Continuing on his sensing spree he found a lot more same boring stuff. They ranged from didn't trust Jim, to indifference, to wanting to steal from Jim. As he got further into town he started getting a lot more of the last one. He had forgotten to take off the black armor. What happened next surprised him a little. A young woman that wasn't covered in dirt and grime started making her way over to him. She had a flirtatious smile and an outfit that was a good bit more revealing than the other folks around. On auto pilot he casted Sense Lv2 on her and was disappointed to see what the read out said. The woman was level 15 and she wanted to make love to him, and then cut is throat while he slept to steal all of his stuff. He gulped. Maybe sense wasn't so bad afterall?

Oblivious to what Jim was thinking the woman walked up to him with a gorgeous smile and said "You're not from around here? Do you need any help with anything?"

After a heartbeat she looked lower and said "Anything at all?"

Jim was half tempted. After all with 1000 stamina would a knife really hurt him all that bad? Then the rational Jim finally took over. If he got arrested before he could fix what was going on in his head his life was going to be very unpleasant. With a regretful sigh he said "Sorry assassin lady, maybe another time."

He saw the panic in her eyes as she quickly made her excuses and left. Awesome! Maybe she would leave town. Tactical Jim! Genius at work baby!

With the number of hopeful thieves around he started wondering if it would have made a difference if he just tried to hold up in Alextria. Nah, it was still better over here. Bilgar had a level of over 40. Considering he was the newest of the royal guard that meant he would probably be on the low end. His strength stat was almost 100. So far the highest level around here was assassin lady at 15. Jim continued to scan while he made his way to the Inn when he found a familiar face. It was the potion maker for this town! Hah, this NPC made a number of people pissed. One interesting fact about the game was that each shopkeeper had different prices. But this one was unique, this smug little bugger charged ten times what most other people charged. In the official strategy guide it said that if you did not have at least ten potions after defeating the spider in the cave, you should turn back and buy some more at Alextria. Many a player refused to pay this NPCs demanding price and tried to push on to the next town without buying any health potions. Usually that resulted in a wiped party and a game over. To make things even worse, if you loaded from a save it would not let you go back to Alextria. So you were held hostage till you could fork over the cash to make it to the next town. Good memories.

Jim was kind of disappointed that he had not gotten a new skill yet, he had used sense a ton of times. Jim was about ready to resign himself to the fact that he would not be getting magic this time around. Casting sense on one of the NPCs in a rocking chair on his porch he saw an interesting read out. The man was level 8, and he only had two hit points left. He had a debuff called Disease: Death's Touch and it was not only killing him, but it had a chance to randomly spread to someone that was close to him. On a whim he started walking over to the man. Maybe they could help each other?

Forrest's PoV

Forrest was rocking on his porch while watching the sun set. It would only be a few more days till his 30th birthday, but he wasn't going to make it. He could feel it in his bones. This was going to be his last day. Then curiously someone started making his way toward him. Must be a new comer, all the locals knew to stay away from someone who had death's touch.

Forrest yelled "I got death's touch you fool. Don't get near me."

To his surprise he ignored his warning and said cheerily "Nah, you look fine. Here I got the perfect thing for you old timer. This is some good stuff, if you drink it you probably won't be so grumpy."

Flabbergasted he said "I ain't that old! I'm not even 30! What are you talking about!"

The man shrugged and said "You sure you ain't like 70? If you put a smile on your face and don't slouch so much you could totally pass for like 60!"

Forrest felt so weak but he could only smile. Smart ass. Clearing his throat he finally said "Well then this old man wants this drink that you have. Of course a youngin such as yourself will probably only have swill, but i'll take a shot out of curiosity."

The man handed him a small red bottle with one hand and put the other one out to shake and said "Name's Jim, what about you old timer?"

Shaking his head Forrest drank the liquid and before he could reply with his own name he felt a jolt. Was it his time? To his surprise it felt like the clock was turning back in time. His arched back was straightening out. His sickly yellow fingernails turned clear. The rasp in his breathing was gone. Forrest was dumbfounded. Had he been cured of death's touch?

There was only one way to get the cure around here, and he had not been willing to pay that price. Damned potion maker. He was the only one in town that knew how to cure it, but the cost was too much. The man even approached Forrest and told him that he would give him the cure in exchange for his house and land. Oh and of course everything in it. The greedy bastard. His house that his father had built with his own two hands. The house where he had been raised. So many good memories in this place. But he was the last one in his family that was alive. Still he had too much pride just to give that little weasel everything he owned just to live. He had even debated killing the guy. But that was a week ago when he actually had some strength left. But his strength had returned! Why had this man saved him? Taking a better look at him he realized this man must be massively wealthy. Just looking at his armor and sword he knew it's quality had to be much better than anything he had ever seen. Then he heard some snuffling at his feet. To his surprise he saw the biggest wolf cubs he had ever seen! What did this man want with him?

Jim's PoV

The man named Forrest asked Jim "Who are you?"

Smiling Jim said "Already told you that. Name is Jim."

"Well, Jim. Whatever you fed me just saved my life. Thank you friend. What can I do for you?"

Jim felt awkward. The sincerity of the man's thanks felt more real than any other gesture of gratitude he had been given in his entire life. He even felt a little guilty that he was about to lie to him, but it was only a white lie. Trying to cover up his awkwardness he said quickly "I am a martial artist and I need to meditate for a few days. During which time I need to be kept isolated. I wanted to stay at the inn but I am afraid that people will try to rob me or hurt or isolate me from my dogs. Are you the only one that lives here? Maybe we can make an arrangement?"

Immediately the man said "You can call this your home if you want, there is plenty of space. And as long as your dogs don't attack anyone that doesn't deserve it there will be no problems."

After some small talk he led Jim to a room. He even got the man to agree to take care of his dogs! Knowing their appetite he left a decent pile of coins on the man's counter while he wasn't looking. The dogs ate a lot and he wanted to make sure they were properly fed so they could protect him.

Looking to his wolf cubs he said "Okay guys I need you to protect me while I sleep, Okay?"

Eerily they both nodded back to him. Did they really understand him? Oh well, that was going to be a question for another time. Before logging out Jim figured he would do one final thing. He still had a stash of greater sources in his inventory. Preparing himself he downed the last of them. If he was under attack while he was asleep he was going to need all the HP he could get. Jim could swear his body was wriggling. It was a weird feeling. Then pain, so much pain. After swallowing the elixir he prepared he pressed the logout button.