“Tree.”

“[Tree.]”

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

“Leaf.”

“[Leaf.]”

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

“Sword.”

“[Sword.]”

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

“Dagger.”

“Hey! [Where did] you [get that from???]”

“Oh come on, work with me here! You owe me that much. DAGGER.”

“[…Fine... Dagger.]”

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

“Good!”

The two humans had turned down his party invitation, or rather, it turns out that Heinrick Ellis was illiterate and when the popup sign appeared he tried to attack it out of reflex – and accidentally pushed the Decline button.

Shiela ELLIS (it turns out she was Heinrick’s smarter little sister) just flat-out refused, like a person being asked to join a religion that involved eating tinfoil and acorns.

It was sort of odd that the signs were in Common, but after some thought it made sense. If it was in his language they wouldn’t know what was going on, and that sort of thing is a big no-no in online gaming. It wasn’t Heinrick’s fault that no MMO game is programmed to cater to people who can’t read.

He still wasn’t used to the differences between stats from Legendary Tales Online and whatever system this place used. Heinrick was a level 6 Ranger, and apparently he has always been one. He didn’t grind the Warrior class up to level whatever and then switch, nor is ‘Ranger’ a combination class of ‘Woodsman’ and ‘Fighter’ or whatever.

Shiela was, simply, a Wizard. Not a Warmancer or Illusionist or Enchanter, just a generic ‘Wizard’. It gave off a sort of a “one-size-fits-all” feeling.

After declining his party invitation, one could say “negotiations broke down”, in that he couldn’t persuade them to reconsider since he couldn’t speak their language.

“Rock.”

Therefore he was forced to begin language grinding.

Heinrick sighed the sigh of people dealing with children demanding they pay attention to them.

“[…Rock.]”

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

“Up.”

“[Look. Can’t you bother her instead?]”

“[No!]” yelled the girl from ten feet away.

Language Comprehension (Common): + 1

He had learned “no”.

It seemed Sheila was all too aware of his presence.

She had snatched away his lamp, and was doing her best to ignore him, saying that she wanted to [memorize spells], whatever that meant. It looked like she was just reading a book, but her eyes would glass over occasionally and she took forever to turn a page. Occasionally her hands would move in the air, tracing something only she could see.

When he had sat next to her during one of her moments of lucidity she got all flustered and made quite a fuss, and whenever she thought he was far enough away from him she would softly mutter what sounded like a curse:

“[She is a GIRL. You’re not attracted to GIRLS… She is a GIRL. You’re not attracted to GIRLS…]”

It hurt his feelings, just a little bit.

Heinrick also got brightly red-faced when he followed him around a tree after that and discovered him… in the act of what he called [draining the sea serpent].

He was 99% sure that was a euphemism, but his Language Comprehension (Common) skill didn’t trigger so it remained a mystery. A very, very obvious mystery, but still.

More importantly was the realization:

It had been over two weeks since he had appeared in that church/tower/place with all the walls.

Not once has he… relieved himself… like Heinrick apparently did.

Not once has he felt hunger, or thirst.

Not once has he slept.

It was entirely possible he would never do such things again.

Such bodily weaknesses are annoyances, and no MMO would allow annoyances to get in the way of gaming.

So every single minute he had spent free from the village he had been collecting ingredients for his Alchemy class, finding and looting every single hidden treasure under every rock and fallen tree trunk he could find, and avoiding the occasional monster that thought a solitary elf might make for a good snack.

He had money.

(No, Heinrick wouldn’t sell him his pants and shirt. Dammit.)

He had items, all magical. Some, he had even managed to identify with ID Gems he had found along the way.

He had thrown away the rest.

(In the future, a group of Rangers From Bowen Village would gain A LOT of spare change finding these discards and selling them to traveling merchants…)

He had found enough reagents to spam recipe tryouts. He had only found two recipes so far, so it was clear he was missing something or was just not high enough level yet.

And speaking of level, his experience points were an abysmally low 57 out of the 500 he needed, most of which were gained when he had healed Heinrick.

Still, perhaps his Language Comprehension (Common) was high enough now.

“You two. ‘Yes’ [party]. Me give you many.”

“[Oh ho! You learn fast, don’t you?]”

“[Wait, what sort of things?]”

It seemed Shiela had finished reading her book for now.

Yessss… Come closer… I won’t bite…

“You.” He pointed at Heinrick.

“Good sword. Good good dagger! Armor.”

“You.” He pointed at Shiela.

She blushed and backed away a little, before realizing she was being silly and then blushing more, which made her back away more—

Get! Back! Here! Just WHAT do you have against me, already? Do I stink?

“You.” he repeated. “Good ring. Good good stick!”

I know I haven’t had a bath in over two weeks, but I haven’t noticed any animals or monsters going ‘PeeYEW!’ when I was near them…

There was a river nearby. Can I get them to--

On the map, a large number of red triangles were approaching.

Oh crap…

“Uh… Bad! There! Many bad! Many many bad! Please join my party now!”

In front of them appeared a familiar floating sign:

Healz Pleaze has invited you into his party!

Accept / Decline

“Hurry! Many bad! I give you! Please!”

“[Dammit! Not NOW!]”

Heinrick Ellis has joined your party!

YES!

“What? No!”

He was finally beginning to understand their sentences.

Good going, Language Comprehension (Common) !

“Wrong one--”

“Inventory! Here! Hurry!”

From out of nowhere he pressed heavy items into Heinrick’s arms.

Jagged Long Sword (+56% to Damage)

Deadly Dagger of Shock (+89% to Damage, Adds 1-10 Lightning Damage)

Azure Leather Armor (+12% Resistance to Cold)

“[Huh? How do I know what these can do like that?]”

The simple answer was that they had been Identified with an ID Gem. Any person picking up one of these items would instantly know their properties.

“Shiela! Hurry!”

“[No! I-I-I don’t know! What if--]”

Dammit, I don’t know if this will work, but…

He grabbed her arm and spun her around.

He held her hands to his chest and gently started caressing them as he moved even closer.

Close enough for her to look down and kiss him, if she wanted.

He looked up at her with his best glistening puppy dog eyes.

“…Please?”

That was perhaps the reddest face he had ever seen.

She was trembling quite a bit. Damn. Could she--

“[Okay!]” She breathed.

Shiela Ellis has joined your party!

It was a shame to have to destroy the moment, but Shiela needed the items he had set aside for her.

Bronze Ring of the Moon (+10% to Accuracy, +1 to all Stats)

Summoner’s Staff (+1 to all Magic Spells)

"[Wait, what does--]"

Unfortunately, it was at that moment several goblin arrows came flying at them.

I deeply apologize for the wait, but I live by the concept that if I get stuck, then I must delete the whole damn chapter and start over. This chapter is version 8, if you can believe it. I spent so much time walking outside, muttering "and then SHE.... No... And then THEY... No..." that my calves could pass for a soccer player's, and my neighbors think I have either gone insane or I'm talking to someone with one of those bluetooth phones hidden under my hat.