It was already around noon when I woke up from my deep sleep. It had been a really long time since I had an actual, relaxing sleep. Back when I was alive, I was so drugged up with painkillers that it felt unpleasant to sleep.

I drowned out the sleepiness by looking outside the window. It was a very bright day, enough to cause me discomfort from the rays of the sun. On another, it had been a long time since I’ve seen an actual, natural sun. I moved to the window and peered out, enjoying the harsh sunlight that I haven’t felt in eons.

As ever, the place was busy. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought this was the capital of a large empire. Many feet were moving, hands were working, wheels turning. It felt very alive.

I turned back and saw Nis just sitting on the chair. She was fiddling with the tiara on her hands, playing with it. Apparently, she was too focused on it that she didn’t realize I had already awoken.

“Did you eat?”

“Bread.” Still focused on playing with her tiara, she didn’t spare even a look.

“Where did you get bread?”

“Last night.”

“Oh...” I stared absentmindedly at her until it finally hit me. “For real? You actually ate that? Are you fine?”

“Yes, just peachy.” She finally stopped fiddling with her tiara and placed it back on her head. She beamed at me, but there was obviously something wrong. She was horrifically pale.

“Yeah, we’re going to need to teach your how to survive before you off yourself from eating strange things.”

I sighed and took out an antidote vial from my pouch and passed it over to her. “Drink it, for my sake.” I said, and sighed once more.

I can’t believe my immediate and most pressing concern at the moment was teaching a ex-robot to not eat everything that seemed edible.

After eating a light meal from the inn, I gave her a crash course of what not to eat for the rest of the day. By the time I had finished, it was already night time.

“It feels like your specs have downgraded.” I said listlessly on the bed. My bed, I thoroughly asked her not to sleep on it.

“You got to spend the whole day with me though, I’d say that’s a plus.” Nis said with a mischievous smile. She was also laying down on her bed, looking at the ever boring ceiling.

“We’re going to the lodge tomorrow.” I announced to her after finally making up my mind. “For one, we need to understand our fighting power. We need to learn where we stand. Two, we need to understand our strength relative to the surroundings. Three, you need a bag of wonders.” I said as I counted off with my fingers in the air.

Nis slowly sat upright to look at me, her eyes shining a brilliant and eerie blue. “An adventure?”

“Pretty much. That’s the point of the Wanderer’s Lodge in the first place. Sell-swords, hands-for-hire, free-men. All sorts of people go there for jobs, adventure, expeditions, whatever else.” I explained.

If my hunch of this world was correct, then it should follow the lore we set upon the world when we developed it. It could also mean that every flavor text, historical excerpts, and whatever stupid lore we injected was true and happened, or will happen.

I need more proof though. Blaine was only the first example of this. I can’t blindly trust a hypothesis I haven’t fully tested thoroughly.

“Sorry, I blanked out there for a moment. Get some sleep, we’re leaving for the lodge early in the morning.”

~ - ~

The next day, we started on our preparations to leave.

I wanted to go straight to the Wanderer’s Lodge and get to the next story beat, but there was a slight problem to Nis’ equipment. They were made for beginners and was pretty much next to useless as protective apparel.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem if this was still the game with its balancing, but now though? I needed to make sure.

There was also the fact that, lore-wise, the first dungeon was a crypt full of undead and dark-type monsters. So much so that it was impossible for the denizens of Adonis to even enter it unscathed. All they could do was make an outpost, send a shit ton of Blaine guardsmen, and make sure nothing leaves the crypt.

I took out a variety items from my pouch. In there was several tons of loot that I never bothered to sell off since the monsters dropped money anyway. I just hoarded them to use for crafting, but even then, I had a lot of surplus.

Several armor pieces with magical effects. This was overkill back in the game for the first dungeon, but our life was on the line. Negligence was a habit better removed altogether.

Thankfully, I had invested civilian points into ‘Appraiser’. In one way or another, my skills from back in the game translated into this world, so that was a welcome surprise.

Unlike the game though, it didn’t give me a game screen to tell me its exact armor points or its exact effect. The best I could do was make an accurate guess based on my instincts.

For a test, I used it on the Spear of Immersed and the Crown of Mexxiah since I already knew their effects.

Appraisal tells me that the Spear of Immersed is of cursed-make and can bring upon destruction to the mortal realm through spears of darkness. The Crown of Mexxiah on the other hand told me that it could enslave the evil spirits of hell through infernal bonds.

It wasn’t exact, but it also wasn’t wrong. Hell, I’m not even sure if Appraisal is doing its job properly, best I could hope for is to bet on it.

Whichever the case, I had screened the armor pieces that wasn’t cursed using appraisal, then had Nis wear them for extra protection.

I had her wear a set of dragon-leather equipment that probably dropped from my last raid. Its magical effects were negligible outside fighting in cold environments, but its armor rating was top-tier if my appraisal is to be believed. Big ‘if’.

I also gave her a different weapon set from her sword-and-gun loadout.

It was something a new Witch Hunter would never hold until the end-game raids. Gunblades. The infamous fantasy weapon.