I woke with the sound of the bells ringing. It seemed to be louder in the morning. I assumed that was on purpose. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. On the floor I found a bucket of water and something that looked like soap. There was a large wooden tub and a new set of clothes along with a piece of cloth to dry off with.

It wasn't very large but it was enough for me to stand in. I assumed this was my sister's doing. She really was a sweetheart to have all this ready for me. Was it something she did every morning or just today because she felt bad for me?

I heard the last chime of the bell from outside. I counted 7, but I could have missed the first few.

I undressed and got in. It was not surprising that this water wasn't warm, but at least it wasn't chilly here today. I realized then I never asked about the seasons or the climate. That would've been good to know.

I assumed a lot of it would be the same, as he said something about our worlds being close to each other which made traveling to it easier. I guess I would just have to find out for myself.

I dumped the water over my head and made generous use of the soap. I knew during the middle ages in my world bathing was not a common thing. I was glad to see opinions on that here were different.

I had to be careful with the water because I didn't want to run out and have soap left on me with nothing to wash it off with. I also used the soap in my hair as I was fairly sure shampoo wasn't an option. At least for a commoner like me.

That sounded kind of odd to say. But for now I was just another commoner.

I washed myself off and grabbed the piece of cloth on the floor. I did my best to keep all the water in the wooden tub as I carefully dried my feet before placing them on the floor. With my new clothes on and boots filled with gold, I was ready for my first day out in the world.

I went out to the kitchen to see my cheerful sister holding out her hands to take the wooden tub filled with water and soap. If she still felt sad about my current situation she did her best not to show it. She had what I assumed to be, her biggest smile turned on.

“Hello brother, you don't need to worry about the tub. I'll get that for you. Besides, breakfast is ready.” She motioned to the stew she had prepared. I shook my head

“It's fine, I'll handle it. Sorry, I’m a little groggy today. Where should I dump this?” I hated to ask something that seemed stupid, but I had to get use to it. I would probably need to ask many stupid questions before I was up to speed. She let out a slight laugh

“Well, considering you've never emptied it before I'm not surprised. Thanks for helping me out, finally not too manly to help me with some of the woman’s work are we?” She gave me a wink.

I laughed a bit at that. I considered my sister could have just been more of the traditional type, but it seemed this was a fairly patriarchal society.

“Take it out back 20 feet behind the pump and dump it there.” She went back to stirring the stew and grabbing 2 bowls. I brought it around back and found the pump. I took the time to give my house a look over while I was out here. It was small, but looked solid just like a number of other houses in the area.

I dumped out the soapy water and brought it over to the pump. I decided to wash it out before bringing it back inside. After coming back inside I realized I had no idea where it went, so I put it in the corner of the kitchen.

“Father already went off to work and had his breakfast.” She placed one bowl down before me and the other in front of herself. She gave me a sheepish look before continuing.

“I'm sorry I overreacted yesterday. I'm sure everything will be fine. This will all blow over soon.”

The way she was acting, so cheerful and encouraging, gave me the feeling this was not going to blow over easily. As we ate the soup I asked her about what she had been up to recently. Trying to learn more about my new younger sister.

The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. In the back of my head when I first met her, I thought It might be some kind of act. No one in my family was a genuinely good person, so why should she be?

Now I felt a tinge of guilt for even having that suspicion. She really was just as she appeared. I guess my prior experiences made me more cynical than I noticed. I stood up, handing her the empty bowl and I thanked her for the meal. I was about to leave before she jumped up and gave me a tight hug.

“I don't care what anyone thinks about your stupid level. No matter what, you're my brother. Just remember that I love you, okay?”

“Sure sis, I'll remember.” I patted her on the head. That tight hug full of love and reassurance made it clear. This was not going to be okay.

I pulled her off and left for work. I didn't exactly know which direction to go but the town wasn't all that big. I was told by my other self to get their in the morning and when I asked for a time he gave me a strange look.

I guess the question seemed odd to him. Morning probably meant to be there for the breakfast rush, whenever that usually happened. Seeing everyone else just getting up and off into town made me think I was on time. As long as I didn't get lost that is.

As it turned out, the first direction I headed in was the right choice. Perhaps it was because this town had very few main roads, but I'm going to say it was just me being amazing. Yay me!

The sign above the business matched the name I was told. It simply read 'Howard's Inn' and had the symbols for bed, food and drinking on it. I liked its straight forwardness. I went inside and tried to look like I knew what I was doing.

Just after I walked in, a slightly heavy older man, who looked to be in his 50s with gray hair and a mustache, waved me over.

“Hey William, can you follow me to the back room please?” I guessed this was Howard. I agreed, of course, and went with him to the back, away from the customers. Once in the back he seemed hesitant to speak, but eventually the words came out.

“I heard a troublesome rumor from a customer who was just here. Could you please show me your status screenl?”

Unable to think of a polite way to decline, I focused my mind until my status screen popped up. After glancing over it he gave his head a quick shake while bringing his vision down towards the floor .

“Damn shame. I'm sorry to see that William. But you can't be too discouraged! We all go through our own hardships in life, and I always belived we're made stronger for it.” He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder while at the same time placing a purse in my hand.

“This is last weeks pay and I tossed in another month as a thank you for all the good work you've done for me.” He seemed rather generous. A bit too generous. I was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Listen William. You've been a hard worker for me these last 5 years, and I appreciate it. You're a damn fine cook and the customers like you. But I’m sorry, I've never had someone cooking for me who doesn't have at least a level 2 chef skill.”

Yep. My bad feeling was correct. My plan to save up money was going up in smoke fast. This bonus was nice but if I lost this job with a boss who seemed to really like me and valued my abilities, I didn't think it was a good sign of my future employment prospects. So I bluffed.

“I've worked here for 5 years Howard. It doesn't matter what my level says. You know me. You know I'm a good cook and hard worker. I'll get the chef skill back. It doesn't make much of a difference in any case. Isn't the ability a person has more important than what a status screen says after all?”

It sounded pretty good to me, but he gave his head another shake.

“I don't disagree completely. The Chef skill does tend to make things taste better and you know that. But even without it you'd still be more than good enough for me. It's the customers. If they learned I had someone without even a level 1 chef skill make the food they paid good money for...”

He stammered on. “I really like you William. But I have a wife and children. I can't afford to lose my customers. I'm sorry.” My head was racing looking for a solution.

"Well fine, keep me on as something else. I can do other jobs besides cook. I can serve tables or just clean up around here. There must be something you can have me do." Howard didn't look at all receptive to the idea.

"I can't do it William. Everyone knows you were a cook here. If I keep you on, they will always wonder if I'm secretly having you cook for me to save money. I can't have any rumors spreading around like that. I'm truly sorry."

With that, he turned his back on me and walked away.

Yep, it was definitely not going to be okay. Not knowing what to do, I stood there in silence for a few moments before I realized there was no longer any reason to be here.

I lwalked back out the front door trying to ignore the sad looks all the other employees were giving me. I turned away doing my best to ignore them. I don't need your damn pity. It wasn't even my job in the first place. Still, it never feels good to be fired.

I headed straight for the busiest part of town in search of a blacksmith. Waiting around and saving up was no longer an option. I needed to get some information on how much all the equipment would cost. Then I could make a plan on how to budget my resources.

I didn't intend to make any purchases right now as food, training and traveling cost among other things would need to be factored in before that. I was confident that as long as I was careful with how I did things, I could still make this work.

As I headed for the hub of the town I heard hushed whispers that went along with reproachful looks my way. I doubted my father would spread unflattering news about me as it would make him look bad as well. But it appeared his 2 friends had no problem doing it, and it was spreading like wildfire

This was one of the down sides of living in a small town with no radio, tv or internet. Gossip was the main form of entertainment.

I walked through the square until I found a man who looked to be the only blacksmith in town. I didn't think of it before when I saw the sign for Howard's Inn, but everything was in English here. I guess it was one of the benefits of coming from a world that was close, in the dimensional sense at least, to mine.

The sign had only the single word 'blacksmith' written on it with sword, hammer and shield symbols all around it. Pictures all over the signs was turning out to be a theme here. There was never more words written than needed and they always use symbols which tended to take up a bigger portion of the signs.

I got the feeling that literacy wasn't common, but it would be nice to confirm that.

I saw a little kid playing a short way down the street with a little red ball. He would do for my experiment. I waved him over while pulling out a copper coin from the purse my former boss gave me.

The coin looked old and worn down, so it seemed safe to assume it was the lowest value. it would have been the lowest value in my world too and this world appeared to share a good amount in common with mine, so i wasn't worried that I would be giving away too much.

“Excuse me young man, I just have a quick question. Do you know what that sign says?” I pointed towards the sign the blacksmith had put up. The boy of about 10 or 11 gave it a quick look.

“It says blacksmith. Don't you see the symbols?” He told me as if it was obvious. I changed tactics and pulled the coin away as he tried to snatch it.

“Can you spell the word blacksmith?” He looked at me confused. He pointed up to the sign.

"Those letters there spell it, if that helps." I changed tactics.

“How about spelling a small word. Like dirt?” He gave me a look and then gave the coin a look. Trying to think of his best chance to get the copper in my hand. I continued on.

"Do you have any friends around here? Do you think any of them could spell that word for me? Or maybe read this one?" I picked up a stick and wrote M-O-P into the ground. He seemed unsure of what it was.

"No, I don't have any friends that can do that. I can try to find someone if you want though."

I crossed the word out with my boot and gave him the copper coin.

“Thank you, you've been very helpful.” He took it and ran away with a smile, probably thinking I would change my mind and ask for it back. It looked like I had a few advantages here, the question was, 'how best to use them?'

I strided over to the blacksmith who stood behind a table sharpening an ax on a wet stone. He gave me a quick look over, sizing me up to see if I was a real customer or just another young man who liked looking at swords.

“How much for a sword, shield and armor? Nothing too fancy, just reliable?” He made it look like answering my question was costing him a great effort.

"A good sword will cost you 5 gold coins. I have some top of the line ones here for 10. Armor will be 6 or 7 gold coins but if you want it custom built, the price goes up to 15. A strong wooden shield is 1 gold coin. But if you want a metal one that's 4. It will last you longer and save you money in the long run."

It was good to know I had enough to at least get my equipment. The question was how much should I spend for equipment and how much on training. The best gear in the world didn't mean anything if I didn’t know how to use it.

I thanked the blacksmith for his time. Maybe I should go into a big city and talk to other blacksmiths to compared the prices and then pick the best one?

With nothing else to do I decided to look around town. There were no guilds or training areas which didn't suprise me. I figured i may need to go to a more populated area.

I looked around as I walked. Most people kept their status screens turned off, but I did notice a decent number kept them open for everyone to see. I guess they saw it as free advertisement for their skills.

The most common level I saw from those who showed their status screen was far and away level 9. It was mostly an older crowd that had reached that level, except for one person who looked to be on guard duty. He was at level 19 and looked to have his hand glued to his hilt as he peered into the crowd for any signs of trouble.

I remembered the conversation I had with my other self. The dungeons here were ranked from 1 to 10. The higher ranked dungeons seemed to pop out of the ground and were eventually swallowed up by it. The higher the rank the dungeon was the less time they lasted.

I wondered if that was true for all dungeons and if the lower ranked ones would be swallowed by the ground in time. Maybe it took thousands of years so no one was aware of it. If this world was as illiterate as it appeared to be then any information that concerned the distant pass would be hightly unreliable. It seemed odd that this rule would apply to only certain ranked dungeons so I thought it was more likely the former was the case.

In any case, my other self told me that eventually you max out your level, and to go further you need to take a test in a properly ranked dungeon. This happened every 10 levels. If you passed then you could claim some kind of skill or class or bonus or something. I didn't know exactly how it worked because he didn't either as he was just a commoner who didn't go into dungeons.

These towns people weren't interested in risking their lives in an attempt to go beyond level 9. Especially since most of them were never trained in combat. Let the guards do the fighting while I cook my pies and don't get butchered. I could understand the reasoning.

Most of the people who tried to level up past 9 were soldiers or adventurers that trained for years. That first test to reach level 10 was considered a particularly deadly one. A fair amount of people attempt it believing they're well prepared, and they don't get to tell anyone they were wrong after the fact.

I imagined it was only after taking the first test that you truly understand how difficult they were. It's easy to underestimate a situation you never personally encountered. The worst part of all was that you didn't get any help when you took it, all test must be taken alone.

That was all something I could worry about later. I needed to focus on getting level 2 before I worried about level 10 and beyond.

The issue was for a towns person like myself who didn't often go into dungeons, leveling up was a long process of completely mundane task. If you weren't in combat it took years to level up just once in most cases.

Almost all the people I saw in town that were level 9 were on the other side of 40. I couldn't wait and do things the conventional way if I wanted to reach level 10 anytime soon.

The guard who was 19 looked much younger than any of the level 9 people in the town. That got me thinking about why going back to level 1 may be a big deal for someone like myself, who lived and worked in a town. From the point of view of everyone in this town, I just lost a total of 16 years of experience.

If you assumed that they believed I would stay in the village and work here the rest of my life I probably wouldn't reach level 9 till I was 60 at that rate. No wonder they saw it as such a big deal. Of course, I wasn't about to go that route.

After I finished exploring the town there wasn't much else I could think to do, so I came home and went to my room to think about my situation. My sister wasn't here, I guessed she was out getting food to cook for dinner.

I took out both small purses. One which had the money my other version stole and the one I was given today. I had 22 gold coins, 10 silver ones and 18 copper ones.

I didn't know exactly what that meant, but i knew it was enough to get me started. I divided the coins between the 2 purses and put one purse in each boot with a little more in my over sized boot. It felt more comfortable this way.

First thing tomorrow I would travel to the next town over. I needed to gather information and get more familiar with the area. I tried to practice a bit of swordsmanship using an empty hand and doing some moves I thought made sense because i saw them in the movies and on TV.

I was glad there was no one here to see me as I was confidend that I looked incredibly stupid while doing this. I was hoping it would help me learn some kind of sword skill. I was not surprised when that didn't happen.

I lost track of the time as I continued what i will politely call my practice. A knock on the door made me jump in surprise and give a quick look around. The very vision of a brave adventurer indeed.

“Brother, are you in there?”

“Yes, what's up?”

“Sorry, I didn't hear you come home and the door was closed so i just wanted to check”.

“It's okay, I'll be out in just a second.” I made sure I looked like someone who wasn't jumping around like a psycho for the past 2 hours before I left my room.

I went into the kitchen to see some newly bought unprepared food on the table which my sister was putting aside for later tonight.

"You're back early.. Are you feeling okay?" She was putting a few of the items away in an old cabinet as she spoke.

"Yeah, i'm fine." I hesitated for a moment before I continued.

"I lost my job today, that's all." She dropped an onion as she spun around.

"What? Why?" she picked it back up and placed it on the table.

"Howard said he couldn't have me there anymore since I lost my chef skill. Anyway it's fine."

"It's not fine! I'm going to go down there and give Howard a piece of my mind. He's lucky you decided to work for him in the first place."

She was looking around for something that I assumed she planned to use to hit Howard over the head. With nothing appropriate handy, she picked up a cob of corn and headed to the door in a huff. I couldn't help nearly doubling over in laughter at the sight.

"Come back here and put that down. What do you think you're going to do with that anyway?" She gave me a frown, but put it down and sat at the table with her arms crossed.

"Well i'm never going over there again. All the food he served there besides yours was crap anyway." Since this little ball of anger didn't know what to do with herself, she decided to stare angrily at the pantry door as if it was responsible.

"Like i said, it's fine. I wasn't going to work there much longer in any case. I was getting ready to do something else." She gave me a surprised look.

"So what do you have planned?"

"Actually, I've decided to become an adventurer. You know, making money hunting monsters." She gave me a worried look.

"That seems pretty dangerous. People die doing that all the time I hear." She started looking more depressed thinking about the worse case.

"Well don't worry about me. I'm going to be extra careful. No way is your big brother going to let some stupid monsters get the better of him, right?" She didn't look convinced but then another thought crossed her mind.

"Don't adventurers need to travel a lot to go to dungeons and stuff? There aren't even any dungeons that close to town." I rubbed the top of my head at her comment.

"I guess there will be a fair amount of travel, but that could be nice too. I'll get to see a lot of the world, which is something I wanted to do anyway."

She looked away from me for a moment, but then returned her gaze with a big smile.

"Well, if that is what big brother wants to do, then you should definitely do it! I know you will be the best adventurer there ever was!"

This kid really had a bad poker face. I don't think I’ve ever seen a more sad smile in my life.

"You know, if you want, after I have everything sorted out, would you like to come live with me instead of staying here?" At first I thought I was taking pity on her by helping her get away from my horrible father. It wasn't until after I said it I realized that I actually wanted her to come stay with me.

She played with her hands in her lap, looking at the floor.

"Aren't you worried I may be a bother?" I got on a knee and put my hands on her shoulders until she looked at me.

"You're my sister, you're never a bother. So don't think that for a second." She jumped off the chair and threw herself on me with a hug.

"Yes, I'd like it very very much to come with you." I would like to think that this was all about me. But I couldn't help but feel it had more to do with getting away from her father.

How could my other self abandon such a sweet girl like her? Deep down could I really be that cold of a person? Maybe I didn't know myself as well as I thought.

For that matter, what did he really know about me? What made him so sure that he could trust me to look after her? Was he that sure, or did he just not care?

If I was in his place I don't think I could have ever done the same thing. Or did I already, because he did?

I refused to believe that. I don't think I could have ever done that no matter what situation I was in.

As her hug ended, I thought it really was nice, having someone who cared about you this much. Having family, a real family, what family should be.

After using her shirt to dry her tears and seeing her real smile, not the fake one she showed before, she turned her attention back to the food.

"Then lets make this a special celebratory meal about you starting a new adventure!"

We talked about all the places we would go, she had so many that she wanted to visit and I had no idea what any of them were. Of course i promised we would see all of them eventually. In part, because she made them sound really great, but mostly because she wanted to go there.

She talked about how maybe she could be an adventurer too. I told her we'd see about that but I didn't make any promises.

It went on like that talking about all the things we'd do until dinner was ready.

This really smelled good. You'd think I'd get sick of stew but she seemed to have so many interesting ways to make it. Right before we were about to begin, my father drunker than I think I have ever seen in any world, stumbled through the door.

A drink was still in his hand and his eyes fell immediately on me sitting at the table.

“So, my failure of a son. I heard you lost your job today. What else could I expect?” He grabbed a bowl and started to carelessly toss stew in it, spilling some on the floor my sister spent the whole morning cleaning.

“Now what am I to do? Can you answer me that? I'll need to pay for all of us to live all by myself. No one is ever going to hire your worthless level 1 ass again.” He dropped the bowl on the table, causing more stew to splash out.

“And getting married? Getting a loan to buy your own home? That will never happen now. What man in his right mind would agree to wed his daughter to you? You expect him to give up his daughter to a worthless man like you and pay a dowry on top of it?” He laughed at the thought.

My sister for the first time managed to speak up in shaky words.

“F-father, it won't be so bad. I can get a job to help out in the meantime. B-besides, brother-”

He gave her a look that caused her to let out a small gasp. She brought her gaze firmly down to her lap, going silent.

“You always stick up for him. You always treat him like he walks on water. Well look at your foolish brother now. And what about me? Where's my respect, huh? You've always been an ungrateful bitch. I put a roof over your head and do I get any appreciation? No!” He slammed his hand down on the table.

Her eyes filled with tears. This wasn't the look of a young woman being reprimanded. This was the look of someone who has been walked over her entire life. She froze in her seat and stared down into her lap with dead looking eyes.

She looked even smaller than she usually did, and she was very small for her age. She spoke out in a soft monotone.

“I'm sorry father, you're right. I'll try to be better. I'm sorry for being so useless. I'm sorry for being so stupid. I'm trying my best. I-”

I saw it now. This was probably the real reason the other me wanted to leave deep down. My real father was no prize and a piece of trash. But this... I wouldn't stand for this one second longer.

“Maybe if you weren't such a useless fucking drunk all the time you wouldn't have to worry about money so much.”

My sister looked up at me, shocked, and then to my father. Her gaze finally ended where it had begun. Back in her lap.

He slowly stood from his chair a bit uneven on his feet. If he wanted a fight that was fine by me. I always wanted to take a swing at my old man, but it was never worth the trouble. It would be worth it now.

He might have been thinking of trying just that. But as he stumbled and leaned over the table, he decided against it.

“You will leave this house tomorrow morning. I will not support a filthy little fucking leech like you. Get the hell out of my sight.”

“I was going to leave tomorrow no matter what you said.” But not alone. The original plan may have been to get her once I was all set up, but I wouldn't let her stay with this man one day longer.

I walked to my room and closed the door. I'd find a way to make it. Level 1 be damned. I was going to the top of this world and I was not going to waste another day here. I was also going to make sure my sister had the life she deserved.

I let that thought hang in the air. When did i start to think of her as just my sister, and not my sister from another world? Well, I wasn't about to take it back. That's what she was now as far as I was concerned.

To let off some steam, I tried some more empty handed sword training that was no doubt useless. Eventually I started to feel more tired then angry and called it a night.

....

I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of footsteps nearby. It was dark, and my eyes were still foggy with sleep. I tried to reach for the candle to get some light so I could see what was going on. 3 hands grabbed me and i felt something heavy hit me over the head.

I was carefully, and quietly, dragged out of bed and to the center of my room. I felt myself being picked up and carried. The hazy semi-consciousness i was experiencing turned into full fledged unconsciousness after I felt myself lifted.

When I came to, my hands were tied behind my back and my ankles and knees were tied together. I tried to speak but something was stuffed in my mouth. I heard one man whisper to another.

"Looks like he's awake. Let's finish this up fast. I don't want to be noticed." My vision began to focus and I saw my father walking toward me.

"Hello son. It seems like you were holding out on me. I found that little gift for me in your boots. You didn't even think to share any of that with your family? You always were a little ingrate weren't you?" I shook my head and my vision cleared more.

I was in some sort of carriage, but not one build for comfort. There were bars on the side that looked very sturdy. My father turned his attention away from me as one of the other men approached him.

“5 gold coins is the price.” One of them said.

“The going price is 8 gold coins.” My father spoke in indignation.

“That was before he lost all his levels. You're lucky were offering you that much. Not to mention that you dragged us out here in the middle of the night on such short notice. With him being level 1, we'll be lucky to make anything off him at all." My father shook his head, feeling cheated. He turned his focus towards me.

“Even now, you're a disappointment.” He turned back to the other two.

“Fine, 5 gold coins. Just make sure you take him far away. I'll tell my daughter he ran off in the night. But if she finds out he was sold off, it could cause trouble.” The money was put in my fathers hand.

They looked around to check if they were being watched. They were on edge. Clearly this wasn't legal, but it did seem profitable.

“It'll be fine. You said he's never left this town before. No one will know who he is. We'll just say he was born into it. No one believes the word of a slave anyway.”

And really who wanted to believe the word of a slave? If they told you that they were kidnapped, or illegally sold, would you look into it and gracefully take the loss? Or would you beat them till they shut up and got back to work?

I tried to scream, but the gag was well made. With the transaction finished, my father didn't even spare me a look as he headed into the house. I heard the small whip of the reigns, and felt the carriage begin to be pulled along with me inside.

At this moment I was sure of it, I made a terrible mistake coming here.