《The Changing World: How it all Began (LitRPG)》


 Prologue

    Anticipation: at that moment in time my thoughts and dreams, desires and plans, were all mixed up in my head. I sat and looked out of the window. Outside the window there was a living breathing city. Who gave a damn what the city was called? People and cars - everything was in motion. There was a fusion of colors, scents and flavors - things that are more or less accessible to almost everyone. However, I just happen to be one of those who are deprived of all of these sensations. For me there are only two colors: black and white; two tastes: edible and inedible; two scents: I am indifferent to one, and the other one makes me feel sick.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.Who am I? Just an ordinary person who hasn¡¯t been very lucky in life. My name is Dave. I am 35, I work from home, and only from home, as an analyst. I am unique in the world, as I have a gruesome incurable disease with some unpronounceable name. However, today, perhaps I might finally begin to experience all the things that my illness has deprived me of.

 Chapter 1: Chance

    I''m deeply engrossed in the analysis of a completely new innovation in the gaming industry. The Okkama Company announced the creation of a new computer game that enables the player to become completely immersed in it. The program developer promised that any person, even if they happen to be blind or deaf, can experience their lack of feelings by immersing themselves inside the world of the game. The developer also ambiguously hinted that the feelings may be even more intense than those experienced by a normal person.


    The news quite literally took the whole world by storm! There was chaos on the stock exchanges, so I found myself snowed in with work. I had enough orders to keep me going for at least a year. Although I cannot describe myself as the top analyst in the world, I''m still pretty well known in my field. I prefer not to communicate in person: I have a ton of competitors who would be happy to see me gone. I also have plenty of enemies, because as a result of my work, a lot of conspiracies have been thwarted and innumerable scams have been stopped in their tracks. So the fewer direct contacts I have, the better. However, if someone wants to contact me, someone that I respect or admire, I will gladly agree to communicate with them.


    Once again, a call came through: my communications program tracks all the calls that come to my address and a small window pops up, giving me full information about the caller, even though that isn¡¯t what it was originally designed for. As soon as I have agreed to take a call or if I call someone else, one of several thousands of computers scattered around the world does this for me. All my communications are transmitted this way. It in turn uses hundreds of other computers and constantly changes the flow of information, passing it on in an absolutely random order. Of course, the program has all sorts of protection, encryption and God knows what. For me, the program is priceless, because it allows me to make decisions promptly: who I need to answer immediately, and who I can call back later.


    Without thinking, I looked at the information window on my computer: the caller was from the Okkama Company. You can safely say that I was surprised! I told the program to answer the call without a second¡¯s thought.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Dave,¡± she said. She was a very beautiful Japanese woman, dressed in traditional oriental blue robes embroidered with flowers and birds. She introduced herself: ¡°My name is Ayano; I''m Kiyoshi Akiyama''s personal secretary. Perhaps you are familiar with the name?¡±


    Of course I was familiar with the name: it was name of the man who was behind the Full Immersion project, and the game was created under his leadership.


    ¡°If you have no objection, then I''ll put you through to him now.¡±                                  Without waiting for my reaction, I was connected to the person that everyone wanted to talk to right now: from journalists to the owners of corporations. I suspect that even the presidents of some countries would drop important matters of state for the sake of such a conversation.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.As far as I knew, Kiyoshi very rarely communicated with someone personally outside of work and family. You could practically count his appearances on TV on the fingers of one hand.


    ¡°Good day, Dave. I''m sorry; I do not know your surname.¡±


    An elderly Japanese gentleman was looking at me via the monitor. Kiyoshi was dressed in casual clothes: in a monochrome black sweater and jeans. If I saw him sitting in a cafe or walking around the zoo, I would never have believed in my life that he was the head of the richest corporation around at the moment, as a result whose innovations the entire stock exchange had literally been turned upon its head.


    "Good day to you too, Sir,¡± I replied in response. ¡°It''s no surprise that my surname doesn¡¯t appear on the Internet. When I started out as an analyst, I created my profile from scratch and did not mention it anywhere, in the interests of remaining completely anonymous.


    ¡°That was a very clever decision. These days, few people realize how much personal information can be gleaned from the Internet,¡± the businessman smiled. ¡°However, I don¡¯t pay my analysis department and security service a lot of money without reason. So, I apologize in advance, but some information came to me. We have searched for people that would benefit in their recovery from the game that we have created, and who know how to safeguard their identity. So you, as an absolutely unique individual, appeared on our radar for both reasons. Our analysis department reported that the only chance that you would agree to our proposal would be in the event that I contacted you personally.¡±                                     You could say I was in a state of shock, but it lasted only for a moment, after which my curiosity took over.


    ¡°I''m all ears.¡± Apparently my curiosity was noticeable even through my avatar, which amused the person I was talking with very much.


    ¡°I am aware,¡± Kiyoshi began, ¡°that you are fond of fantasy books and like popular online gaming. I also know that several interesting programs have been developed for your personal use and one of them calls out colors to you when you hover your mouse over a particular subject. I also know that you are an excellent stock exchange analyst who can quickly give advice, make a recommendation, or even propose a strategy for the development of a company from practically any industry. I understand that it is useless to offer you money and fame. However, I wish to offer you something that no one else can offer you: a world full of feelings and colors, unforgettable adventures and most importantly - the hope of a cure.¡±

 Chapter 2: The Conference

    After selecting one of my anonymous avatars, I entered the data and joined the videoconference, so that the rest of the participants in the videoconference could not see me, but rather the avatar chosen by me. The avatar behaves exactly like me, waving his hands around, mimicking my speech and display of emotions. He has his own name and his own history on the Internet. No program can track the real me or paint a portrait of me.


    The participants in the video conference appeared in the program as if they were seated in a concert hall. Gradually the hall filled up. As soon as the last spectator had taken his place, a young Scandinavian looking guy appeared on the stage.


    ¡°Greetings to all of those gathered here together! To make it simple for us to communicate, just call me Sam. I''m one of the creators of the Game, and the only person who is currently allowed to talk about the game. You all signed agreements prohibiting the dissemination of any information, including the name of the game, outside of this conference. In the case of any violation, you and those who receive the information will face lawsuits and many other unpleasant consequences. If anyone doesn¡¯t agree to these terms, then I advise you to leave right now.¡± Sam looked around the room with a piercing gaze.               A wave of indignation swept through the hall, but no one left.


    ¡°I''m delighted that everyone has stayed.¡± Sam smiled disarmingly in a somewhat childish manner.                                                                                                            ¡°So then, the working title of the game created by our corporation is ASTAT. I don¡¯t believe that many of you know what this word actually means. In fact, it is very simple: this is the name of the most unstable element in the world. The name was chosen for a good reason: the world inside of the game is constantly changing, and the players themselves will constantly make changes to the game. Believe me: these are not mere words. The player is able to create new scenarios, breed new kinds of plants and creatures, and build everything from a chair to a palace. The players are also able to create new quests and new locations. All this will be limited only by your abilities, the availability of the right tools and your imagination.¡±


    A roar of approval passed through the hall.


    ¡°All of this and much more.¡± Sam winked from the stage. ¡°All of this is possible with the development of certain abilities and talents. By the way, as I have already said, you can learn almost everything in the game for yourself. Of course, you can find a mentor, and he will explain and show everything in detail, but if you don¡¯t have a mentor holding you by the hand, then just try to find your way around the program by yourself.¡±                                                                           ¡°There is yet another aspect to the game: the features in the game only grow through action and training. The main thing is that we decided to completely abandon the system of levels, so, you will need to find different ways to evaluate your progress.¡± ¡°Another fact, which these days is being very vigorously discussed in all of the world¡¯s mass media, concerns the fact that artificial intelligences control the game, and this is actually true. Everything from the behavior of NPCs (non-player characters controlled by artificial intelligence and not the gamer), ending with the creation of new chains of quests, which is the work of iSkins. They can also expand the game world and organize global events. Most likely, you also heard the corporation''s statements about the sensations and feelings available in the game. So, all this is true. Even those who are unable to feel certain sensations in life will be able to feel the whole spectrum of known sensations and much more in the game. Pain and orgasm are not exceptions.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    At the mention of orgasm the mood in the hall brightened up a little. Realizing that Sam had finished his presentation, the hall literally exploded, followed by questions and exclamations.


    Sam waited until the hall calmed down, and continued:


    ¡°I am not authorized to give out any more information than I already have. All of you have been selected, because you meet certain requirements, so you can participate in the closed beta testing of the game. The testing itself will last a year in real-time, which is the equivalent to three years in the game. After the first year of the game, a second larger group will be allowed to participate. The following year the game will be available to everyone. However, you personally must remain in the game for another year. You will have a connection with the real world, and access to the game forums and sites dedicated to the game. Yes, okay, calm down now!¡±


    Sam put a stop to the growing murmur. ¡°Due to the fact that our technology is analogous to what people see in a dream, time in the game travels three times faster than in reality. Once again I want to emphasize: becoming a beta tester, means that you cannot leave the game for three game years, and within two years you will no longer have any communication with the outside world. However, later when the game is officially released, your characters will have an advantage of two years development within the game. How much or how little will depend solely on you. Trust me, even those who invest millions in the game will not be able to develop their characters quickly, so they will only make the game easier for themselves.¡±                                                                                    ¡°With a certain situation in the game, you can still lose the rank of beta tester, so before the game officially becomes available to everyone else, you will have to remain on company premises without contact with the outside world. Oh, and that¡¯s not all! After the official opening of the game, the corporation will allow the exchange of virtual money for real currencies and vice versa. So, in terms of your material benefits, this proposal is also very, shall we say, sexy.¡±


    A roar of approval passed through the hall. It seems that most of those present were professional players and understood perfectly well what the 2-year handicap for an online game of this standard meant.


    ¡°This concludes our conference. You will all receive a letter with the name of the game in the title. If you agree, you just need to answer ¡°Yes¡±. If you decide not to participate, just ignore it. The following day all participants will be collected by car at the same time. Thank you for your attention and I hope you all agree to participate in the beta test.¡±


    Sam left, and the others also began to leave the conference. Eventually I was the only one remaining. All that Sam had said was, of course, interesting, but I had already decided to become a beta tester beforehand. For me the opportunity to experience colors and tastes had been my dream from a very early age. So for the sake of making my dream a reality, I was prepared to do almost anything, even spend the whole of next year sat inside a virtual world.

 Chapter 3: Rebirth

    I was brought to one of the secret centers, where I was told that apart from myself, there were a further ninety-nine beta testers there, and the rest were scattered in similar centers around the world. After a huge number of tests and analysis, which lasted for several days, I was finally admitted to the gaming capsule.


    When I saw it for the first time, it seemed to me that this was just a great bed: a soft feather bed with a jelly-like pillow, and everything literally adjusted to the contours of my body. However, once I was stretched out in bed, I was covered with a dome, and the entire structure was filled with some kind of dense gas. Strangely enough, it became even easier to breathe, and I no longer noticed what it felt like to be in a new place.


    I was in a stone cave, the walls of which were illuminated with multicolored flashing lights, but it was not clear where they originated from. And then it hit me like an electric shock: the flashing lights were in color! I realized that I could see in color! Until that very moment I did not believe that I would ever be able to see in color! Well, if what I had been told about the other senses turned out to be true, then I intended to stay in this game until I could see and feel all the same sensations as people in the real world. Kiyoshi told me that it was possible that my illness could be cured, but he had no idea how long I''d have to stay in the game.


    ¡°Good day, Newcomer,¡± the deep voice sounded as if the speaker was right in front of me.


    I tried to see it, but I saw only a wall decorated with colorful ripples.


    ¡°Do not try to see me,¡± he said, guessing my intentions. ¡°It can¡¯t be done.¡±


    I had already come to my senses and so I concentrated: I only have one opportunity to create a character, and then have to live with him for at least 3 game years, so I will restrain myself and bite my tongue.


    ¡°Greetings, Cavemaster,¡± I smiled in a friendly way.


    ¡°What is your name, Newcomer?¡±


    ¡°Call me Marten. That will be my name in this world.¡±


    ¡°It''s a very interesting name,¡± the voice said thoughtfully. ¡°In the world that I will open for you, names and titles have a special power. Satisfy my curiosity, Martes: what does your name mean back there, and where did you come from?¡±


    What a strange character, I thought: it created the impression that I communicated with a living being. It seemed that the AI played out the role of living beings just brilliantly! If this was the case, then I needed to communicate very carefully with all the NPCs.


    ¡°With pleasure,¡± I smiled again into the void. ¡°This is the name given to a type of small and very fast animal.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± The voice responded cheerfully. ¡°I believe that if I am not mistaken, they may be small but they are still predators, which are quite dangerous even for larger animals.¡±


    ¡°That''s right,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Thank you, Marten, you have fulfilled my request. For this you will receive a small gift from me, but you will need to find out for yourself what kind of gift it is. Perhaps this will only happen when you become stronger. So, whether you can use it or not, depends only on you. Right now I''ll give you a piece of advice: do not say disclose your user name, and do not list your abilities to anyone other than those in whom you fully trust. Actually, it¡¯s better not to tell them either, if you can avoid it. Better not to give out your real name either.¡±


    ¡°So, what might happen ...¡±


    The voice interrupted me, without even letting me finish the question.


    ¡°I will tell you no more. Let''s begin, Newcomer by the name of Marten. Choose a color.¡±


    What a strange way to create a character, I thought to myself. Why not create a new race? Or would that affect my avatar¡¯s appearance? Well, it seemed that I was not going to get an answer to my questions, so I would choose from what was on offer.


    A whole palette of colors appeared before my eyes. It was so beautiful that the amount of choice made my head spin! I do not know how I long stood in admiration, but the voice continued to wait patiently for my answer. Eventually, I chose the color that had attracted my attention from the very first second. As soon as I made a choice, the palette disappeared, and above the selected color appeared the inscription ¡°sky blue¡±.


    Wow, so that''s the color of heaven! I was in a state of excitement, and I was so delighted by the beauty of the color, that I forgot to confirm my choice. I came to my senses a couple of minutes later, and confirmed that I had chosen the color sky-blue.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the voice said. ¡°Would I be right in saying that for you to see a color is something unusual?¡±


    ¡°That''s right,¡± I sighed. ¡°Where I came from, I was unable to distinguish colors, tastes or smells.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± There was sympathy in his voice. ¡°Then I will use my privilege and give you one ability that will be very useful to you. Do not be afraid: this is provided for by the rules of this world. This ability was designed exclusively for the sake of people like you.¡±


    ¡°You are hereby given the ability to sense ¡°Three Senses¡±, Grand Master level (max).


    Smells, colors, tastes, their meanings and definitions will become an open book for you.¡±


    ¡°Now choose at most three qualities that are most important for you. Take your time.¡±


    Clouds appeared before me within which names of different qualities floated around. As soon as my mind lingered on one of the inscriptions, the name of the quality increased in size, and similar alternative qualities appeared around it. They had both positive and negative aspects. Seeing some strange word that was unknown word to me, I regretted that I did not know it¡¯s meaning, but immediately a detailed description appeared.


    Empathy is a conscious ability to experience the current emotional state of another person without losing the sense of the external origin of this experience. An Empath is a person with a developed ability for empathy.


    Thank you, it''s not for me, but it''s still very interesting ... If I start from the logic of the game, then, by choosing only one quality, I will receive one hundred percent to this quality and by choosing two ¨C it is most likely that this would be divided equally between each of them. After a moment''s thought, I chose two: ¡°Resourceful¡± and ¡°Fortunate¡±. Now I faced a difficult choice: I did not know what attributes the qualities I had chosen would give to me. Would it be worth taking a third one, or not?


    ¡°Excuse me, can I ask a question?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, but I cannot answer any more of your questions,¡± the voice sighed. ¡°These are the rules of this world, and I do not have the right to violate them.¡±


    Okay, I have made a decision: I singled out ¡°Creative¡± and told the voice that my choice was made.


    ¡°An interesting combination,¡± the invisible voice said thoughtfully. ¡°Let''s see which one is the right choice for you.¡±


    I was shocked: these were not the characteristics that would be given to me, but merely the parameters for making a choice! I would like to punch however invented this rule! Next, the silhouettes of five patrons appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Here is the list of patrons who are suitable for you. I advise you to think seriously about your choice,¡± advised the voice sharply.


    The invisible voice seemed to be amused by the situation and my mixed reactions. It was easy for him to make jokes, because he wouldn¡¯t be the one that has to run around inside the game for the next three years having made my choices. Okay, let''s take a look at what¡¯s on offer.


    I looked closely at the first patron offered to me. It looked like a sphere poured in dark blue shades. It seemed that it was constantly on the move and incredibly full of life. Wishing to know more, I received additional information:


    The Spheric - appreciates the fortunate and quick witted. Provides help in specific difficult situations. It has a playful character and likes to joke around.


    With such a patron you don¡¯t need any enemies, for sure. I moved on to the next one on the list. He was a strong chap, somewhat reminiscent of Hermes, only his wings were on his shoulders. He had a predatory expression.


    Avolic ¨C a shape shifter that appreciates resourcefulness and brutal decision making. Helps in shady transactions, political games and deceptions. Sly, it has outstanding fighting qualities.


    Again not for me! Are there no good patrons here? I switched to the next one. Surrounded by shadows, it was an almost invisible silhouette of an anthropomorphic creature. It exuded an impression of strength and undisguised arrogance, confident in its invincibility.


    Sokt - the treacherous patron of murderers and thieves. It helps only in matters of the dark. Arrogant, cunning and cruel.


    What choices am I stuck with? I thought that I had chosen such positive qualities, and so far the patrons are thieves, scammers and murderers. If the remaining two are like that, I will have to settle for having an evil character, although I do not like to do that. So, I looked at the penultimate figure. I saw a strange old man staring at me: in his eyes there was a cunning intellect. Apart from that, he twisted around his walking stick playfully, without slowing down for a second.


    Vostrukh - the patron of the capable and quick-witted. Helps those who, in his opinion, deserve it. Sly and cunning, with a strong mind.


    Ha, now things are getting interesting! If the last one is no better, then I will stick with Vostrukh, as he is at least the best of a bad bunch. So, to the last one. I was looking at a self-confident creature that looked a little like a fox. Both paws juggled gold coins back and forth, without pausing.


    Trickster ¨C patron of those who go through life on their own terms and against the accepted norms. A dodger and prankster, for who the very process of experiencing life is the most important thing.


    Sorry, Vostrukh, but Trickster is much closer to me in spirit.


    ¡°I have made a choice - it''s Trickster,¡± I told my invisible companion.


    ¡°Hmm ...¡±


    I got the impression that the disembodied voice was surprised by my choice.


    ¡°Forgive me,¡± the owner of the voice gradually came to himself. ¡°To be honest, I was 100% certain that you would choose the reasonable Vostrukh, and not such a mischievous person as Trickster. But your choice is sacred for me and for this world.¡±


    The last phrase sounded a bit strange, or at least it seemed so to me.


    After a second¡¯s hesitation, the voice turned to me again.


    ¡°We''re almost done. Knowledge and abilities are a treasure chest of values for every living entity. The world allows every Newcomer to take away with them the best pearl from their collection of treasures. Marten, what of all that you know and are capable of doing, will you bring with you to this world?¡±


    I did not even have to think long about it: a quick and profound analysis of facts and situations is what has fed me all these years. If I wanted to take something into the game, then that''s what it would be.


    The voice politely waited for my answer, and this time for a change I did not keep him waiting.


    ¡°I choose my analytical ability,¡± I told my invisible companion.


    ¡°Let it be so!¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.It seemed to me, that there was again a note of surprise in his voice, but I did not have time to think this over.


    ¡°I dare not detain you any longer. We''ll meet again a little later, but for now, farewell.¡±


    The cave was gone, and without noticing how it happened, I now found myself on a small hill in the middle of a magnificent meadow. The number of flowers and scents literally intoxicated me. So many new sensations! For me, this was a paradise. I seemed to have lost my mind: jumping, running, and tumbling over. I moved from one plant to another and sniffed each of them. Some plants I even tore off and tasted. On the edge of consciousness, I noticed some messages, but did not pay attention to them: feeling like I could read them later.


    Without noticing how it happened, I found myself outside the meadow. A beautiful mixed forest, with a lot of different trees, such as oaks, spruce and pine, stood ahead of me. I enjoyed exploring every branch of every tree.


    The Gong.


    Suddenly a sound came from behind me, and it made me jump. I turned around slowly. In the meadow was a fairy woman, around half a meter tall. Her arms were bent upwards, and she was crying. She had a very cute childish face, was wearing a long dress of sky blue, and she had six incredibly beautiful translucent wings of an azure color. I tried to return to the meadow, but I encountered an invisible barrier that wouldn¡¯t let me go back.


    A message popped up in front of me:


    The initial location is closed to Newcomers once they have left it.


    ¡°Forgive me, please,¡± the creature wailed, ¡°but you were so happy that I decided not to disturb you, but ... then you went beyond the boundaries of my meadow so quickly and now ...¡± The small creature sobbed. ¡°It''s all my fault ...¡±


    I waited for the fairy to calm down.


    ¡°Come on, its okay,¡± I smiled at her.


    The eyes of the nearly calmed fairy filled with tears again.


    ¡°It''s not okay, it¡¯s very dangerous!¡± The creature sobbed. ¡°You could die.¡±


    I did not have time to reply. Another message arrived:


    All you have achieved so far is ¡°Not to find the essence of life¡±. Leaving the initial location without the gift from the fairy, you stepped on the path of self-determination.


    Many curses in the world are just waiting for their victims. Your body is unaccustomed to this world, and not protected by the power of the Fairies. You are already affected by a small curse known as ¡°Oblivion¡±. You have lost your personal reputation of being an ¡°Analyst¡±. All you can manage to achieve now is a state of ¡°As is¡±. Now all you have left are memories of the world from which you came, and have to start everything from scratch.


    While you do not have a basic ¡°Vorto¡± or essence of life so far, your abilities will increase by 0.1% every day.


    The energy associated with your name will last for 2 months.


    The clock is ticking down: 1 month 29 days and 23:59:59 (58 ... 57 ... 56).


    The counter moved to the upper right corner and became almost invisible. Only when I deliberately focused attention on it did the numbers regain their brightness.


    ¡°Oh great¡±, I sighed. ¡°I think I¡¯m in serious trouble. Please explain to me what¡¯s going on.¡± I turned to the fairy.


    The fairy, covered her face with her hands, and shook her head. After that, indicating that I needed to wait, she disappeared. So if I needed to wait, then I would have to wait. I still needed to read my previous messages anyway:


    You have achieved the rank of ¡°Leader¡±. Thanks to you, a new patron has appeared in the world. The Trickster¡¯s status has improved: +600 points. At the moment, the status of ¡°Neutral¡± requires 600 points. To reach the status of ¡°Good¡± requires a further 400 points.


    Your ¡°Agility¡± attribute has increased +1.


    You have discovered the ¡°Herbalist¡± ability, Beginner level (1%).


    You have made your patron smile. The Trickster¡¯s status has improved: +50. At the moment its ¡°Neutral¡± status is 650 points. To reach ¡°Good¡± requires 350 more points.


    Your ¡°Attentiveness¡± attribute has increased +1.


    I wondered why I was rewarded for ¡°Attentiveness¡±. It turned out that it was for the fact that I had been peering at the colors of the plants and trying to smell everything.


    What an interesting game! As Sam said, attributes and achievements can be gained by actions. I wondered what else could be achieved solely through my actions. Now I really believed that even with the investment of money, it would be almost impossible to catch up with the beta testers.


    Enough of all that, it was time to start being clever. I had not even looked at my personal attributes yet. Who was I and what was I? I examined myself. So, I had the body of a young man, lean, and quite muscular. I was wearing narrow black trousers and a dark blue shirt - all of a kind of cloth resembling cotton. My height, I estimated, was about 180cms, although it was difficult to judge. In the real world, I''m 178cms, but here I was a little taller. My skin color had a blue tinge to it, and my nails were sapphire colored. Okay, that¡¯s not the end of the world. It¡¯s a pity that I couldn¡¯t see my own face. Time to take a look at my personal attributes:


    Name: Marten.


    Race: Newcomer.


    Path: not selected.


    Class: not selected.


    Professions: not selected (3 available).


    Basic attributes:


    ¡°Strength¡±: 1;


    ¡°Skills¡±: 2;


    ¡°Stamina¡±: 1;


    ¡°Intellect¡±: 1;


    ¡°Attentiveness¡±: 1.


    Resistance: none.


    Talents: None.


    Abilities: ¡°Herbalist¡± (1%).


    Achievements:


    ¡°Failed to find the essence¡±: a deduction of 0.1% from basic attributes for each day without ¡°Vorto¡±.


    The first day is: - 0.1%.


    ¡°Leader¡± - thanks to you, your patron arrived into the world.


    This achievement can be improved upon (conditions are unavailable) - reward (unavailable).


    ¡°As is¡± - while you are under the ¡°Oblivion¡± curse, you do not have the ¡°Analysis¡± agility.


    Wow, when I got this message, there was not a single word about improvement. It is a pity, of course, that it was not made clear how to improve, but now one thing was clear: I needed to check my messages more often. The rest was simple: I had the abilities of a newborn baby. But what was Vorto, and why is it that I only had two months life left to account for its absence? I needed to find an answer to this as soon as possible! Where was my friend the crying fairy?


    Deciding that panic would not help matters, I decided to take a look around me. As soon as I took a few steps towards the forest, I was called by a very pleasant, or what I would describe as an extremely charming voice. Turning around, I saw an incredibly beautiful fairy, almost as tall as me, wearing a translucent silver dress painted with incomprehensible runes. Her wings, which looked as if they had been woven from the wind, covered her back like a wrap made out of air.


    ¡°Greetings, Newcomer. What name did you choose in our world?¡±


    ¡°Please excuse me for my impertinence,¡± I grinned, ¡°but I was instructed not to give out my name, unless it was absolutely necessary.¡±


    ¡°That''s right,¡± the fairy laughed without malice. ¡°Then just tell me, what am I to call you?¡±


    ¡°Call me Dee,¡± I smiled back. ¡°And how should I address you, beautiful creature?¡±


    The fairy laughed again, and her laughter resembled the ringing of light bells, leaving a feeling of joy and tranquility in my soul.


    ¡°Call me Tsi. I am one of the twelve highest ranking fairies in this world.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± I was really surprised.


    To meet any higher being at the beginning of a game is unusual.


    ¡°Forgive me, Dee, because of my careless student, you are in mortal danger. Leah is the fairy you saw earlier, and she was supposed to be your first teacher in this world and give you a basic ¡°Vorto¡± ...¡±


    ¡°Tsi,¡± I interrupted the higher being¡¯s monologue, ¡°I''m sorry, but I have no idea what kind of animal this Vorto is.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Tsi was a little embarrassed. ¡°I have had no communication with Newcomers for a long time, and I completely forgot that you do not know anything about our world. ¡°Vorto¡± is a run-of-the-mill word. The basic ¡°Vorto¡± is what constitutes the essence of all living things. Nothing in this world can exist without this run-of-the-mill word. At the moment, your existence is limited by the energy of your original name. When it runs out, you will die without the right to return.¡±


    As soon as the fairy finished the sentence, a message appeared in front of me.


    You have found a serious error, and before the game begins it cannot be corrected. In the case of death without a basic ¡°Vorto¡± you will be eliminated from beta testing.


    ¡°Bleep, your bleep!¡± I did not even realize at first that swearing is automatically corrected to ¡°bleep¡±. That means that if I die, then I will be forced to wait until the game is available to everyone. Is this the case?¡± I looked at the high fairy in hope. ¡°Can you give me this run-of-the-mill word? Would that be possible?¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± the fairy confirmed.


    Hearing this, I sighed with relief.


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t work like that.¡±


    My relief vanished like a mist in a strong wind.


    ¡°I do not deal in simple words; I deal only in a rare and higher tongue. Such words can only be obtained after performing complex quests. Also, the lack of a basic rune word creates another problem.¡±


    I gave up, asking the fairy to tell me everything. Things couldn¡¯t get worse anyway. What will be, will be. As it turns out, things could indeed get worse.


    ¡°Alas,¡± the fairy pretended to be terribly upset, ¡°as things stand at the moment you are unable to choose your class and path.¡±


    Clearly, I thought to myself, I was just the kind of entertainment that she had been waiting for.


    I sighed: ¡°So what am I supposed to do now?¡±


    The Fairy smiled victoriously:


    ¡°There may be something I can do after all. Here!¡± She clapped her hands.


    Your quest: ¡°Find it within yourself¡± (unique).


    Obtain your first ¡°Vorto¡± by any means, within 60 days.


    Reward: Basic Rune Word (a rare one at the very least).


    ¡°So how am I supposed to search for that when I don¡¯t even have a class yet?"


    ¡°First of all, even though you left the initial location, you are under our protection for the first nine days. None of the humanoid creatures can harm you, unless you attack them first. Secondly, we are now in the sacred forest of the Fairies, and you can stay here for these nine days, and then you will have to leave it and enter the outside world. If you use the time correctly and wisely, then you can achieve even more than in a protected meadow under Leah¡¯s tutorship. As for the rest ...¡±


    Tsi, was not a bit embarrassed, and told me that she had done everything she could, and that now everything was in my hands. After that, the High Fairy just melted into thin air.


    ¡°Bleep!¡± I flew over to the nearest tree and slammed my fist into it. It was painful. Ouch, I forgot that pain also exists here, although I hope it isn¡¯t as bad as it can be in the real world. I began to squeeze and unclench my fist, and gradually the pain passed away. I was not ready to give up on three years of being surrounded by colors, smells and adventures! I had my task and time was on my side. So there was nothing to sulk about. I would go and search for a run-of-the-mill word.

 Chapter 4: Getting to know the world

    I was ready to go deep into the forest. I thought myself: I do not have a class and I don¡¯t know any fighting techniques. I''m weak as a newborn baby, and moreover, I am unarmed and unprotected. I was aware of this, after examining the style of my clothing: unfortunately, both garments offered zero protection. It seemed to me that it would be better for me not to leave the initial location for some time. I have always been quick to make decisions, so I decided to start exercising right away. I started with the simplest exercise: I did 10 push-ups, but on the 10th push-up I received a message.


    Level of Fatigue: 10/10, you are exhausted.


    I told myself that if I couldn¡¯t do anything more, then I should take another look at my attributes. As soon as I thought about this, the system brought up a data screen for me, and I immediately asked for the most detailed information.


    True Name: Marten.


    Name in the world is: Dee.


    Race: Newcomer.


    Path: not selected.


    Class: not selected.


    Skills: not selected.


    Professions: not selected (3 available).


    Basic characteristics:


    ¡°Strength¡±: 1 - the ability to carry up to 1 kg


    (Parameter of 10 * to the ¡°Strength¡± agility). Affects many actions, including attack;


    ¡°Agilities¡±: 2 - evasion from physical attacks and throwing weapons 0.2% (Parameter of 0.1% * ¡°Agility¡±). Affects many actions, including the chance of striking a critical blow;


    ¡°Stamina¡±: 1 - the life energy of the character 10 lives (Parameter of 10 * ¡°Stamina¡±). A affects many actions, including those taken into account in resistance;


    ¡°Intellect¡±: 1 - the magical energy of the character 10 manna.


    (Parameter of 1 *¡°Intellect¡±). Affects many actions, including magical damage;


    ¡°Attentiveness¡±: 1 - gives a chance to notice something invisible, a chance (hidden).


    Abilities:


    ¡°Herbalist¡± (1%), Beginner level. Confers ability to see names, determine scope and collect better quality herbs, mushrooms, roots and berries.


    No surprises there: a minimum amount of information and the rest was a mystery. The program was written so that a player could find his way around by himself. That was even better, as far as I was concerned. I do not like it when everything is done for me. I prefer to be spontaneous and to experiment.


    Also, as it turned out, I had something like an invisible bag with a capacity of 50 items, but the only thing in the bag so far was a jar of red liquid. The inscription on the label read: ¡°mild medicinal drink restores up to 100 life points¡±.


    I did not think about what I was doing. I tried to grab it with my hand, without really knowing where the bag was, and somehow I managed. How clever to come up with such an idea. It''s good that I managed to locate it, as it appears that this was part of the knowledge that the fairy in the initial location was supposed to give to me, but that was now no longer available to me. Well, it¡¯s not the end of the world, I¡¯ll figure something out, and I¡¯m not a kid anymore.


    At this point, the level of fatigue showed zero. So I repeated another 10 push-ups, and received a bonus as expected.


    Your ¡°Stamina¡± has increased: +1 (2).


    Immediately after this, the level of fatigue went back down to zero. I did not even get up, but continued doing push-ups. I spent several hours alternating between push-ups and thinking about my future plans. During this time my ¡°Strength¡± increased by 3, reaching a level of 4, and ¡°Stamina¡± received an additional 3, reaching a level of 5. If I continued to do only push-ups, then soon I would be having nightmares about them. I needed to diversify my exercise regime somehow, and I certainly didn¡¯t want to go back to doing push-ups any time soon. During the push-ups, I decided that the best thing to do would be to walk around the outskirts of the initial location in the forest. So, firstly, I could begin to get used to this world, and secondly, I definitely wouldn¡¯t get lost.


    Sticking to my well thought out plan, I went deep enough into the forest, so that I could still see the meadow that was the site of my initial arrival location without straining my vision, and I began to circle around it.


    I can¡¯t say that walking through the forest was easy going. I was constantly being caught by branches and stumbling over tree roots. Many of the bushes were spiky.


    My ¡°Life¡± level was somewhere around 35 and it hadn¡¯t had enough time to reach maximum.


    For the first couple of hours, I was just walking through the forest. I enjoyed every moment, discovering new smells and studying the colors that I liked most. Thanks to the "Three Senses" ability given by the Voice, I saw and felt the definitions of colors and scents. It was not entirely clear to me how it worked, as there were no captions, I just knew anyway. For instance, which scent smelled sharp, or that something was a deep red massak color.


    During my exploration, the only thing I found was four beams of a strange plant the color of a bog, structurally reminiscent of moss. This raised my ¡°Herbalist¡± ability by 0.5% (1.5%). That was my only success.


    Deciding to speed up a little and therefore to pump up my ¡°Stamina¡± and ¡°Skills¡±, I went on a light jog, for which I immediately paid a price. I tripped over a very large root at full speed, and I smashed my forehead against a big tree, something like a maple.


    You have received damage: -15 Life points (down to 20).


    Enough is enough! This does not feel like a game at all, it''s all quite like life in the real world. I was angry with myself; everything I was doing was pedestrian, and not at all productive. I got up automatically and went on my way, gently putting my feet where there were no tree roots, and trying not to get caught up in the branches. Gradually, I got into a rhythm, and continued walking, almost on autopilot. Suddenly a system message appeared in front of me.


    You have discovered the ¡°Easy Pace¡± skill. Your level is Beginner (1).


    I stopped for a moment in total surprise. Did the game creators develop skills and abilities for everything that can be learned in the real world, and this is not something limited by class, but can be learned by anyone?


    If so, it fundamentally changed everything. Deciding on the spot to test my theory, I began walking, paying attention not only to how I walked, but also to the amount of noise made by my movement through the forest. About twenty-five minutes later, when I had almost lost hope, a message came up, which I had been waiting for.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    You have discovered the ¡°Silent Step¡± agility. Your level is Beginner (1).


    At the same time my ¡°Easy pace¡± agility received +2 (3). Well, now I was absolutely sure that anything was possible in this world. Kiyoshi, you are a genius! I was in awe at how the dynamics of development had been worked out! I was so inspired by my success and the possibilities of the game that I almost forgot about the threat of being thrown out of the beta test.


    The long forgotten excitement of being a player was awakened within me. Up until now the opportunity to smell scents, see colors and taste flavors, was the most important thing to me. Speaking about taste, it was now evening and I had done nothing to obtain food or find a place to sleep. Without me noticing, dusk had fallen over the forest. There were no stars in the sky, but according to my internal body clock, the first star would appear in an hour or an hour and a half.


    You have discovered a new agility: ¡°Internal Body Clock¡±. Your level is Beginner (1).


    So, it would appear that this is one of the additional feelings that we were told about at the conference, and it''s a very useful agility. Mentally, I wanted to know what the time was. The system reported that it was now evening. Originally, I was amused by the humor of the developers: so far this was the only agility that I had attained, and that was it.


    I decided to continue on, but on the way I paid attention to finding food and a place to stay overnight. Walking past a certain bush, I noticed a strange fruit on the ground, reminiscent of an acorn, only black and without a hat.


    Your ¡°Attentiveness¡± ability has increased: +1 (2).


    Just a little thing, but nice all the same. I picked up the fruit. To my surprise, the fruit was very heavy: putting it in my bag, I estimated its weight to be as much as 200 grams. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to eat it, but it could prove useful to me as a throwing weapon. After skirting around all the bushes I could see, I collected eleven more fruits. At the same time, my ¡°Attentiveness¡± level increased by one point and reached three.


    In search of the plant on which these fruits grow, I began to look at the crowns of the trees surrounding me. On one of them, I noticed a large beautiful lemon-yellow fruit, shaped like a strawberry. I was sorry that I didn¡¯t have a stick to knock it down with. Potentially, this was the first edible fruit that I had come across. So, I pulled out a couple of acorns, took aim and launched them one at a time in the direction of the fruit. The first missed by fifty centimeters, the second was ten centimeters closer. One by one, I threw all my weapons, never once hitting the target. Searching the ground, where the acorns had fallen, I could only find a dozen. I returned to my previous position and continued shooting. This time, the fourth attempt was successful, and the fruit fell to the ground. The system appreciated my success:


    Your ¡°Agility¡± attribute has increased: +1.


    You have discovered the ¡°Thrown Weapon¡± agility. Your level is Beginner (1).


    You have discovered the ¡°Accuracy¡± agility: +1.


    Picking up the fruit and collecting my weapons, I decided it was time to try my trophy. I cautiously bit off a small piece: a delicious, slightly sweetish fruit. My head felt somewhat dizzy. I had never experienced anything like it in my life.


    Your ¡°Herbalist¡± attribute has increased: +1% (2.5%).


    You have been affected: +10 on the fatigue scale (50 + 10 from the fruit). You have 1 hour.


    Your cravings for food are 90%.satisfied


    Wow, it looks like food can have an effect, and it was no surprise that I had started to feel slightly hungry. It appeared that eating in this game is compulsory. I wondered, what about the rest of the body''s needs? I don¡¯t need to do anything just yet, but what do I do if I¡¯m desperate? I finished eating my fruit, and I began to look around the trees, for similar trees to the one on which I found it. My reward was to find another big yellow ¡°strawberry¡± fruit.


    Your ¡°Attentiveness¡± ability has increased: +1 (4).


    I was fascinated as to why my agilities were increasing so rapidly. I wondered, would it always be so or only in the initial stages? Most likely, the latter. Well, I would have to wait and see. I began the usual bombardment. This time I knocked down the fruit at the ninth attempt.


    ¡°Thrown Weapon¡±: +1 (2).


    ¡°Accuracy: +1 (2).


    This time, no points were given for ¡°Agility¡±, but you can¡¯t win them all. At least I had another fruit that could be eaten in the morning. After picking up the fruit, I received a message.


    Your ¡°Herbalist¡± ability has increased: +0.5% (2.5%).


    Looking closer at the ¡°strawberry¡±, I realized that now I knew its name and characteristics: Yellow fruit of the forest. It is used in potions and for cooking, and it is edible raw.


    ¡°Well then, yellow fruit of the forest, it¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± I smiled, stroking the fruit.


    Suddenly I was aware that something had changed, but the feeling quickly passed. I put the fruit into my bag, and continued to stroll around the initial location.


    As things turned out, the meadow, which I had left so unsuccessfully, was on the way out. The rest of the arrival location stretched behind the negligent fairy¡¯s meadow. If I calculated the distances correctly, then with my slow movement I had not yet passed a quarter of the way round.


    Darkness inevitably replaced the daylight, so from being mysterious, the forest became quite scary, even though I knew that I was in a fairly safe location. According to the High Fairy, if I didn¡¯t do anything stupid, then I had nothing to fear. The question was: what is considered stupidity as far as the local monsters go and how bored might they be? With my agility and attributes, I was more like a toy than a threat.


    Deciding that I had come far enough for one day, I found a place to sleep. It was a big tree, the trunk of which separated out into three large branches about a meter off the ground, and formed something like a nest. I collected some big, incredibly strong and almost straight burdocks, and I created something like a bed. Then I collected some soft grass which grew nearby, and made a pillow out of it. No sooner had I finished fluffing up my future pillow, when the system sent a message:


    You have created an uncomfortable bed.


    You have discovered the ¡°Scout¡± ability. Beginner level (1%).


    How strange. Usually Scouts know quite a lot about this field, so I wondered how this new ability would develop. In any case, it¡¯s a useful ability, and it was good that I discovered it myself, without the need for any instructor.


    Despite a lot of discomfort, I still managed to get settled on my new bed without fear of falling off when I was asleep. Since I wasn¡¯t provided with a sleeping bag, I curled up and covered myself with a pair of hard burdocks. I lay there but could not sleep. Although it was dark now, for me, even in this darkness, there were many amazing and new shades of color. I took in these shades and gave them names, peering at each twig and every crevice in the tree. The smells were also simply extraordinary, and although I could not compare them to something from the real world, in some strange way, every time I caught a scent, I could associate it with a tree, grass or flower.


    Attentiveness: +1 (5).


    Unfortunately, when this message popped up it disturbed my line of thought, and I couldn¡¯t go back.  I was so exhausted psychologically that I don¡¯t recall how I fell asleep.

 Chapter 4.1: The Council of Celestial Fairies

    A huge marble hall was illuminated by many crystal lamps. The walls were decorated with relief images of the most significant moments from the history of the world in which the fairies had taken part.


    Suddenly, a strange breeze blew in from nowhere, and, as if inspecting everything in the place, it circled the hall. Then it moved to the center in an instant and disappeared the same way as it had arrived. There was a slight trill from all around, and fairies began to appear in the hall.


    To an outside observer, if they were allowed to attend such a meeting, they would probably be curious: why were all the fairies dressed in blue? Only the shades of blue were different. There was nobody there apart from the fairies, so there was nobody to ask this question.


    At first the previously empty and quiet hall was filled with the rustling of wings and conversations. A few minutes later, Tsi appeared in the middle of the hall. Everyone immediately fell silent. A very old fairy flew out to meet the new arrival and bowed:


    ¡°Welcome to our Council, Tsi!¡±


    Before answering, the High Fairy looked around the hall attentively: the fairies'' reaction to her arrival was, of course, different. Some were embarrassed, and some looked on with respect. There were other emotions, but nothing negative from anybody. Satisfied, Tsi smiled at the old fairy:


    ¡°Thank you, Siyatintil! I''m glad to see that you are in good health and that your magical power has not weakened one iota.¡±


    Then she addressed the whole audience:


    ¡°You all know why you have been invited to this emergency Council of Celestial Fairies.¡±


    ¡°The young fairy Leah, who was trained up to the initial standard, has made a terrible mistake. Her mistake is the mistake of all of us, including me. The first days that a Newcomer arrives into the world, they are weak and helpless as a small child. They do not know our laws and customs, and are completely without abilities and knowledge. Because of the error of one of the Celestial Fairies, this Newcomer will not receive the knowledge that we owe him. Moreover, he does not have a basic ¡°Vorto¡±, and we could lose him completely in two months.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.A frightened cry passed through the room, followed by comments on all sides:


    ¡°There are not enough Newcomers!¡±


    ¡°You can count on the fingers of one hand how many Newcomers and patrons come here! This one is the only follower his patron has.¡±


    ¡°We need to do something!¡±


    Hearing the words she wanted to hear, the High Fairy waved her magic wand, and the whole hall fell silent.


    ¡°Your suggestions, my dear fairies.¡±


    A fairy in cornflower colored clothes came forward.


    ¡°I''m listening to you, Tirelel,¡± Tsi said, addressing her.


    ¡°I think we need to write down for him all the knowledge that we are obliged to convey to every Newcomer.¡±


    ¡°Great idea,¡± agreed the High one. ¡°Organize the creation of a textbook for him. As you know, you only have nine days: use as many fairy helpers as you require.¡±


    Tirelel bowed and disappeared into the crowd.


    ¡°Are there any more suggestions?


    A middle-aged fairy in cobalt colored clothes came forward:


    ¡°My name is Neurel. I''m Leah''s mentor and think her mistake is my own.¡±


    Tsi nodded in agreement, confirming what the fairy had said, indicating that she wanted to hear his proposal.


    Neurel seemed to shrink under her gaze:


    ¡°I want to watch over the safety of the Newcomer along with my student until he has all the strength that he needs and feels confident in the forest.¡±


    ¡°Great idea, the High Fairy smiled. ¡°I was looking for such suggestions. I think it''s worthwhile to think about compensation for him, perhaps some useful gift from the Celestial Fairies, but we can do this later. I declare the Council closed!¡±


    Having said this, Tsi disappeared from the hall.


    Gradually, all the Celestial Fairies left the hall. Neurel sighed, and was the last to leave.

 Chapter 5: The meadow in the forest

    I woke up suddenly. Dawn had not broken yet, but the night was already receding. It was strange; I had never just woken up like this in the middle of the night in the real world. An inner confidence grew within me, and I knew that I had woken up for a reason.


    The trees guarded the forest like gray giants, but I didn¡¯t feel threatened. On the contrary, somehow I was sure that there was no threat. My curiosity is my scourge. I put down the burdocks that covered me, and deftly got down from the tree. Without taking any risks and paying maximum attention to where I put my feet, I tried to make as little sound as possible. I circled around from the place where I had lodged for the night. A few minutes later I noticed a small clearing, which was somehow strangely illuminated.


    I still did not feel any danger, so confidently and without concealing my movements, I moved in that direction. Approaching the clearing, I realized that the glow was moonlight: while I was sleeping, a greenish-blue moon and a multitude of stars had appeared in the sky. It was so beautiful, that for a moment, it took my breath away.


    Absorbed in the moment, I ran my eyes from star to star, mentally combining them into pictures. There, a hamster is dragging a sack, and there a unicorn jumps, and elsewhere, a huge demon fights with a knight of light. Looking at the stars, I saw a huge picture against which the story of my life was taking place.


    You have opened the ¡°Star Reader¡± ability. Beginner level (1%).


    ¡°Intellect¡±: +1 (2).


    The message, as always, distracted me from my thoughts: I needed to come up with a way of making them less obtrusive, or learn not to pay attention to them at all.


    I looked at the clearing once again. It was nothing special, just lots of grass and different flowers. However, one of the flowers seemed to have a life of its own. Its movements did not coincide with the direction of the wind, and sometimes it seemed that it was literally doing the very opposite. I went closer and sat down beside it.


    At first the flower froze for a second, as if in fear, and then, as if deciding something for itself, started to move even more rapidly. The leaves increased in size, a fresh flower bud appeared, and all the old buds and flowers on the stem fell, leaving only the fresh bud.


    Everything stopped for a few minutes, creating the impression that the flower was gaining in courage. Frozen in place, and trying not to breathe, I sat and waited. I could not rid myself of a feeling that something both magical and poignant at the same time was about to happen.


    My legs became numb, and I could hardly restrain my breath, but I still sat there and waited. As if deciding the time was right, the flower shook its leaves, and the bud opened with a quick and at the same time incredibly elegant movement of the petals.


    Absolutely not thinking what I was doing, I exhaled and stretched out my hand to the flower. I had no plans to pick the flower, and I don¡¯t understand why I did it. At first, the flower recoiled slightly from my hand, and then seemed to change its mind and reached out to meet me, until it was in the palm of my hand.


    And then the messages poured down:


    You have completed ¡°Moon Dawn-I¡± hidden quest. Each Moon Flower opens its bud only once a year, for exactly 15 seconds, then fades for a whole year. By linking yourself to the Moon Flower at the time of its blooming, you have prolonged its life. Now the Flower will live at the expense of your energy.


    You are allowed to undertake the ¡°Moonlight-II¡± quest. The Moon Flower should reach stage III of its development. The reward for this is variable.


    You have received a rare ¡°Extended Life¡± achievement. This achievement gives you the opportunity to study (unavailable). This achievement can be improved upon.


    ¡°Attentiveness¡±: +2 (7).


    ¡°Intellect¡±: +3 (5).


    You now have the ¡°Reflexes¡± ability: +1.


    You now have the ¡°Luck¡± ability: +25.


    The ¡°Luck¡± ability has reached the value of 25 points. You have received the following bonuses:


    The chance of finding items of a ¡°Unique¡± level or higher: +10%;


    The chance of getting a job of a ¡°Unique¡± level or higher: +10%.


    ¡°Luck¡± was your first ability to reach a value of 25 points. You have received the following bonuses:


    +15% to ¡°Critical blow¡±;


    +15% to defend against a ¡°Critical blow¡±.


    You are the first Newcomer to reach the value of 25points in the ¡°Luck¡± ability. You have received the following additional bonuses:


    5% chance to meet someone who you will need, even if you are unaware of it;


    5% chance to get an item that you will need, even if you are unaware of it.


    You have discovered the ¡°Intuition¡± ability. Beginner level (1%).


    Your ¡°Herbalist¡± ability has increased: +50% (52.5%).


    What happened? All I did was go to the clearing and bond with a flower. If you are talking about rhymes, then there is no chance that I would ever become a poet or a bard. I definitely don¡¯t have a musical ear ¨C you could say that I¡¯m completely tone deaf.


    So, let¡¯s analyze what happened. I did not even pick the flower; it just decided to lie on my palm by itself. Did this really happen? I gently used my other hand to raise the flower by the stem into the light of the moon so that I could see it more clearly. It somehow reminded me of the Alamania orchid, only more elegant, and most importantly, it had a life of its own. All this time the flower lived its life right in the palm of my hand. The colors of its petals were almost identical to the color of this world¡¯s moon, and they seemed to have absorbed the moonlight. The stalk, on the contrary, was covered with a sky and navy blue glow that poured into it from my hands. I was fascinated by this course of events. The creators of this game are just geniuses! I hope that I will never take such beauty for granted, and it will continue to surprise me. Another moment later, and all the glow had gone out, but the flower grew by about a couple of centimeters, and its petals became even more saturated in color.


    The moon confirms your right to communicate. From now on, the Moon Flower will be fueled by your energy, taking 10% of the maximum value of your mana.


    Well, regarding the mana, the news was quite unpleasant, but apart from that there were plenty of pluses.


    ¡°Where should I put you? It is hardly worth putting you in the bag, so perhaps it is better this way.¡±


    As soon as I placed the Moon Flower into my jacket pocket, the flower weaved its stem and fastened itself inside the pocket. Even more: the flower literally rooted inside my shirt, piercing it with a stem in a couple of places and covering all this mess with leaves. I hoped that this specimen of flora would not object if I suddenly wanted to change clothes into something else.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.¡°You have no objection if I decide to change clothes then?¡± I asked, looking at the flower.


    Of course, I did not expect an answer, but for a moment it seemed to me that the petals were moving about, as if saying ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Lord, help me! Not only am I talking to a flower, but I even see it answering me back.¡±


    I suddenly felt terribly sleepy: I wondered what time it is was. My internal body clock told me that it was still night time, and an hour had gone by. I should use it more often, but so far it had been of little use. It seemed that for today I had already accomplished everything that could have been done, good or bad , so I could go back to sleep with peace of mind. I dragged myself back to my tree almost on autopilot, climbed into my homemade bed and fell into a deep sleep.


    The morning greeted me with the smell of foliage and a warm light that poured through the trees. Having eaten yesterday''s fruit, I decided that it was pointless to waste room in my bag for the bed, so I left it on the tree. Instead I considered it was a good idea to collect as many yellow fruits as I could for the road. After collecting twenty-one yellow fruits, my abilities improved:


    ¡°Strength¡±: +3 (7); ¡°Agility¡±: +5 (10); ¡°Stamina¡±: +1 (6); ¡°Attentiveness¡±: +4 (11); ¡°Accuracy¡±: +6 (10).


    The ¡°Attentiveness¡± ability increases much more slowly after 10 points. The ¡°Herbalist¡± ability also rose, but only by 1.5%, however the ¡°Throwing weapon¡± agility added another 8 points, and like many of my agilities, had reached 10 points.  After I found the last fruit, I spent another fifteen minutes searching for more, but to no avail. Possibly there were no more fruits, or my ¡°Attentiveness¡± was not high enough. An unexpected benefit of hunting for yellow fruit was discovering another seven acorns. Now I had seventeen acorns for ammunition. This heavy fruit really was a type of acorn, or could be described more precisely:


    The ¡°Lead Acorn¡± is an incredibly heavy fruit, and absolutely inedible; used in blacksmithing and as a throwing weapon.


    It seemed that by sheer chance I had used it for just the right purpose. When in the morning I picked up the first acorn in my hand and was preparing to throw it at the yellow fruit, I came across a simple description of the acorn. Immediately afterwards there was a message about a 1% increase in ¡°Intuition¡±.


    Having finished robbing the surrounding trees of the fruits that interested me, I continued my journey through the Forest of the Fey or Fairy people. It just so happened that my path lay not far from the clearing that I had visited the night before, so I decided to pop in once again and see how it looked in the daylight.


    To my surprise, the clearing wasn¡¯t empty: there was a beige-red creature in the clearing resembling a cross between a puma and a Pomeranian Spitz. It had incredibly pointed ears that ended with cute tassels, and as many as three long tails, and the tip of the one in the middle ended in a fluffy hammer shape.         The creature was playing in the grass, constantly running around the clearing. Looking more closely at the creature, I noticed an inscription above its head in white: ¡°Alphiner Cub¡±. As far as I remember from being a gamer, the color of the inscription is very important. White in most cases means that the creature is quite harmless.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +1% (3%).


    It seems that I guessed the meaning of the color correctly: as they say, nothing special, but I was pleased. Let''s hope that the rest of my gaming knowledge will help considerably more.                                                                                       Very carefully, I tried to hide behind trees and move quieter than usual. Since there was a gap of about seventy meters between the forest and the clearing, I decided to watch for a while before I showed myself. I chose a huge tree for this purpose, something similar to a weeping willow: its branches bent down and seemed to hide the trunk from view. As quietly as possible I crawled in under the canopy of foliage. The branches parted slightly, and created a perfectly acceptable observation point.


    You have discovered the ¡°Camouflage¡± agility. Beginner level (1).


    The effectiveness of your disguise is 60%.


    I was focused on doing everything quietly and imperceptibly, and then a message appeared in front of my gaze! Not controlling my movements, I jerked back and bumped my back against the tree. That would have been okay in principle, but there was one small problem! The collision was accompanied by an incredible racket, like creaking cart wheels.


    The effectiveness of your camouflage has fallen: -20%.


    Obviously, the little creature could not help but hear such a noise. It froze in its tracks, but literally a second later it continued its game, completely ignoring me. Why, I asked myself, was I hiding? It was either sure that nobody would upset it, because it was under the protection of the Fairies, or it was strong and confident, and feared nothing.                                                                                                  I decided that the cub wasn¡¯t going anywhere, so I wanted to find out where all that racket that had so suddenly spoiled my disguise had come from.


    I spread back the branches to form an arch, and the daylight lit up the tree trunk. I began to take a closer look. The tree was defined as:


    Bramble - a deciduous tree growing in many forests in this world is used¡­ (Information unavailable).


    So, my ¡°Herbalist¡± ability did not allow me to define everything and anything yet. Okay, what''s next? The trunk was hung with garlands, and lumps of different shades of green and black. Carefully, so as not to cause damage, I removed one of them from the trunk and peered at it more closely.


    The Fiddle is a variety of noisy mushroom. It grows on the bark of trees, and can be used for cooking, alchemy and as a magical ingredient. Edible fresh, it replenishes magical energy by +15.


    It looked like a very useful mushroom. I put the mushroom that I had already picked into my bag, and carefully picked a second one. These mushrooms occupied only one compartment in the bag.                                                                          I really felt like having a pint at this moment. Unfortunately there was absolutely nothing to drink, so I began to collect all the mushrooms that my greedy hands could reach.                      The result of my mushroom robbery was one hundred and eight Fiddle mushrooms of different shades. My ¡°Herbalist¡± ability increased by +4.5% and reached 60%. My ¡°Stamina¡± increased by +2, to become 8. My fun was over, so I returned my attention to the creature in the clearing.


    I decided to resort to the traditional way of domesticating non-aggressive animals. When I got to within a couple of meters of the place where the creature was having fun, I pulled out a yellow fruit and offered it to the beast in the open palm of my hand.                                                                                                                       Then I kept completely still, and began to wait with a sinking heart. At first the creature pretended that it was alone in the clearing. Hey, it didn¡¯t know who it was dealing with! I''m very patient, and such an interesting pet would be indispensible to an unarmed person like me. So, I''m sorry creature, but I''ll have to tame you.


    The creature¡¯s smooth movements kept breaking off whenever its nose detected the seductive aroma of the fruit. Eventually, unable to withstand such torture, the creature stopped and looked at the fruit enviously. It sighed, sucked in the air, and approached the treat with small crouching steps. My legs had gone numb, and my outstretched arm had also gone stiff and felt incredibly heavy, but I endured patiently and waited for my future pet to try the fruit.


    The youngster had already made up its mind, so pretending that I wasn¡¯t even there, it took the fruit in its teeth and carried it away, after which it started eating the delicacy. I stood up, and while the youngster finished eating the fruit, I stretched out my arm and legs. Then I took out another fruit and sat down cross-legged.                                                                                                                           Now that the Alphiner knew how delicious the fruit was, it definitely wanted to try another one. This was clear to see from its fascinated gaze, which was glued to the fruit in my palm. However, I had no intention of just giving it the fruit.                     ¡°Come on then!¡± I wiggled my arm slightly, letting the fruit move around a little on my palm.


    The creature, still not trusting me, came up and tried to steal the fruit again. I gently closed my hand over the fruit so as not to allow this to happen, showing that this time it would have to come for it. Pretending not to be interested in a second fruit, the creature wandered to the middle of the clearing and started to play again without much enthusiasm: its gaze kept coming back to the delicacy.


    Its desire for the delicious food overcame its distrust. The cub approached and, trying to keep as far as possible from my hand, took bite after bite from the fruit. I fed it fruit after fruit, and eventually I managed to win its trust, and it even allowed itself to be stroked while eating. After eating five more fruits, the Alphiner was literally full to bursting. Its movements began to resemble the movements of a pregnant cat. It looked at the next fruit in my hand without too much enthusiasm: the desire was still there, but it couldn¡¯t eat any more. The youngster rubbed against my leg and then headed for the forest.


    What a bummer! I had hoped that I could tame it, but all I managed to do was to earn its trust. Okay, I promised myself that I would try to come back here in a couple of days. You never know, I might manage to tame it yet. As soon as the creature disappeared from my field of vision, the system issued new messages:


    ¡°Stamina¡±: +3 (11).


    ¡°Attentiveness¡±: +1 (12).


    Relations with the Alphiner pack in the Forest of the Fairies: Good ¨C 150 points. Trust - 1 850.


    Not wasting any more time, I left the clearing and headed in the direction I had chosen the day before.

 Chapter 6: The first fracas

    I really enjoyed walking through the woods. My growing ¡°Attentiveness¡± ability made it possible to see many things that I had never noticed before. Observing more closely, I could see insects and all sorts of interesting grasses and flowers. I picked some of them, studying their properties, and I even tried to taste some of them. I didn¡¯t come across anything special until I found the ¡°Little Dark Blue Bloom¡±, and the Moon Flower exhibited strange behavior: if I understood correctly, it was trying to persuade me not to throw the bloom away. So far the properties of this particular flower were unknown to me, so I trusted in the opinion of my lunar partner and decided to collect more of the Dark Blue Blooms. After putting the blooms in my bag, I had the sensation that I had accomplished something very important.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +2% (4%).


    That was strange. Last time my Intuition had increased by one percent, but this time it was two. I decided to keep this in mind, and I continued to search for the Blue Blooms.


    Today I had decided to take a different approach to my movement through the forest. I decided to absorb what was useful. Simultaneously I combined ¡°Easy step¡± and ¡°Quiet step¡±, and every thousand steps I referred to my ¡°Internal Body Clock¡±. After a little more experimentation, I hung bundles of different colored grasses over my body and camouflaged myself with leaves that gave off a strong scent. All this gave me a permanent bonus of +25% for camouflage, and that¡¯s how I moved through the forest.


    The level of my agilities gradually increased, which slightly brightened the monotony of the forest. Suddenly I felt a searing pain, my leg buckled, but miraculously, I managed to catch the trunk of a nearby tree and avoid falling into the bushes. My life points immediately dropped from 110 to 47. At the same time I could see nothing around me that could be responsible for such a powerful blow at a stroke.                                                                                I looked at my leg: part of my trousers looked like they had been cut with a razor, and there was cut on my leg about 10 centimeters long. Looking back, I saw a plant that looked like a liana, a type of woody tree vine, with a 2-3 cm wide trunk. I tore off a piece, and looked up the name: ¡°Dikovlisiya¡±. From the description the only properties of the plant that I could ascertain were that it was used in alchemy and herbalism. I bandaged the wound, hoping that the plant would heal and not poison me, or in the worst case it would make no difference to the wound either way. The bleeding stopped, but there was no discernible impact on my health.


    To replenish my life points, before looking for the root cause of the problem, my much loved body indicated a desire to be fed. So I ate a whole yellow fruit, which raised my life level to 63 points, and also raised my satisfaction level to 89%. Of course, a standard bonus was added to my level of Fatigue.


    ¡°Well, what do we have here?¡± I carefully parted the leaves of the bushes. Imagine my surprise when I saw a flower, incredibly similar to an iris. Looking closer, I was able to read the name: ¡°Slicing Iris¡±.  The creators of this world shared a strange sense of humor. The leaf resembled the blade of a sword, and my blood still lay upon it, but the plant was sucking in my blood, drop by drop, right before my eyes. The red flower changed its shade to a bright scarlet.


    ¡°Oh, you''re a bleep, damn, what''s going on here! This sign of friendship and chastity has just pumped out more than half my life force for the sake of preserving its color!¡±


    It is not in my nature to leave bloodsuckers unpunished, by the way. Not a single mosquito has escaped my righteous anger. I began to look around in search of a means to educate this beautiful flower. The search took 20-30 minutes, but in the end I found a stone the size of my palm with a rather sharp edge on one side. Not the best option, but, as they say, you have to work with what you¡¯ve got.


    My next task was to protect my hands somehow, and using cloth was clearly not an option, as I had already seen what this plant had done to my trousers. Basically, my thought was that if there are plants around that can cut then there must be other plants that are impervious to being cut.                                                                  So I came up with an idea, and keeping that in mind, I proceeded to systematically study all of the flowers and plants in the surrounding area. As a result, I came across another dozen such plants, but since I knew what exactly what I was looking for and understanding how the plants behaved, it was quite easy to avoid getting cut again. I wandered around for about an hour and a half, or maybe two, and then I discovered an emerald green moss.


    ¡°Riccardia¡± - this species is resistant to piercing-cutting action, and is used in alchemy.


    I also stripped down to the last leaf a dwarf tree with the strange name of ¡°Robacha¡±. To my delight, and to my great regret for the tree, because the leaves of this tree were very pleasant to the touch. However, in its description it was listed as being a plant that ¡°it wasn¡¯t possible to strip the leaves from¡±. I had just torn off two more leaves from the poor old Dikovlisiya plant.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    My new task was to do something with the plant materials that I had collected, namely, to protect my hands. I covered my left hand with moss, and with my saliva I stuck the leaves from the dwarf tree over it, and, and wrapped all this ugliness with Dikovlisiya leaves. It turned out quite well, although my hand couldn¡¯t grip so well afterwards. Whatever, it would be of little concern when it came to teaching that nasty plant a lesson. I did the same thing with my right hand.


    You have created a pair of Cumbersome Forester''s Gloves.


    You have attained the ¡°Craftsman¡± agility: +1 (1).


    I wondered what kind of gloves had I made?


    Cumbersome Forester''s Gloves: protection level 15, protection from stabbing injury 15%, protection against cutting injury 15%.


    Not what I had expected, but better than nothing. Time to commence my retribution! I parted the bushes, carefully grabbed the leaf that had cut me (it was easy to recognize, as it had a slightly brighter color and there was still a small drip of blood on it). I took out the stone and began to cut it: I did it quickly, trying not to pay attention to the pain in my hand. The flower did not want to part with its leaf, so it tried to twist the leaf in my hand to cause as much damage as possible. My life points depleted with incredible speed, and even the gloves did not help much. At the time that my life points had already fallen into the red sector and showed less than 20 points, I quickly jumped away from the plant and ate some yellow fruit. This time the fruit gave me as much as 57 life points, and I continued cutting the plant as fast as possible.


    I had to eat eight more fruits before I finally managed to tear off the leaf at the stalk. I held an 80 centimeter long leaf in my hand on a thick stalk of around 15 centimeters in length, which looked badly damaged, but that didn¡¯t affect my good mood in any way.                                                                                                 I could honestly say that it was my first combat trophy in the game. It didn¡¯t matter that my opponent was merely a flower; the damage done to the plant was pretty substantial. So, even if I hadn¡¯t actually destroyed the plant, it was still a trophy. The gloves had withstood the test. They had small cuts here and there, but since the parameters for quality control in this world were nonexistent, they were still serviceable.


    ¡°What if I were to ...¡± The mechanism of data analysis kick started in my mind.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think about this before? Any fool could figure things out from such a big hint! Why didn¡¯t I work it out earlier? I practically had a ready-made weapon in my hands. I already had all the technology that I needed to do this again: moss, the stalk, and the leaves stripped from the tree ...¡±


    ¡°Forgive me, honestly, I didn¡¯t do this on purpose,¡± I prayed mentally. ¡°Well, actually I did mean it, but there was no alternative.¡±


    I felt some emotion inside briefly, but it disappeared in an instant. I didn¡¯t pay any special attention to this, as I fastened a Dikovlisiya leaf around the stem of the new weapon I had made.


    You have created a ¡°Leaf Sword¡± with a cutting damage of 25-40 points, a 10% chance to inflict a bleeding wound of 10-20 points of damage per second for 5 seconds, additional properties (unavailable).


    ¡°The Craftsman¡± ability: +1 (2).


    You have received the ¡°Item Identification¡± agility: +1 (1).


    I felt lifted. I did not expect things to work out so well, but why was so much information unavailable to me? Of course, I understood that I had very little knowledge and little agility so far, but I still found this annoying! I felt like I was nothing more than a bewildered hedgehog wandering around in the fog.


    I never stay upset for long.                                                                                               My ¡°internal body clock¡±, which had increased to 14 points today, informed me that it was already evening, which of course I knew myself, because the sun was going down and the forest was very quickly becoming impenetrable.                                                                                                   I quickly paid a visit to a clump of my favorite ¡°burdocks¡± to create a new bed. I still hadn¡¯t found out their official name or purpose, which aroused my curiosity. I collected enough for my needs, and went over to a tree I had already chosen.


    After building another rough bed, I received +1% to the ¡°Scout¡± agility (2%) and, having settled down comfortably in bed, I began to review the increase in my abilities and agilities for the day.                                                                                  My ¡°Herbalist¡± ability had increased to 68%, my ¡°Intuition¡± had somehow managed to increase by as much as 3% and now was 7%, ¡°Easy step¡± and ¡°Silent step¡± had climbed 10 points and reached 13 points and 10% respectively. The ¡°Camouflage¡± agility had increased to 7 points, However there was almost no change in my other abilities: ¡°Strength¡± was 9 points, ¡°Agility¡± 11points, and ¡°Stamina¡± had risen to 14 points. All of this was down to sawing off the leaf from that flower. Even my ¡°Attentiveness¡± had only increased by 2 points, reaching 14 points, and this despite the fact that I had focused on almost everything.


    Having decided to get some good rest, and hopefully get up early in the morning, I immediately fell asleep.

 Chapter 7: A Kind Competitor

    This time around, waking up naturally wasn¡¯t to be my destiny either: something was stirring in the bushes under the tree on which I was settled. At the same time, there were strange rustling noises and sounds resembling snorting coming from nearby.


    I leaned over the branch and hung my head down: my legs were secure, and my hands had something to hold on to, so I knew that I wouldn¡¯t fall. A couple of minutes later my patience was rewarded. A mighty young hog was under the tree, sniffing around with its dirty snout. I called it a boar for a purpose of a comparison: its skin was of an amber color, covered in black blots in random spots. It had thin branched horns on its head and two small tusks. To the whole world it looked like an ordinary boar, apart from the horns and strange coloring. Its name and description weren¡¯t available to me at the time.


    I was curious: what was so delicious down there for it to be so excited? I was certain that it had noticed me: it tried not to turn its back on the tree, and its ears were trembling. So, if it wasn¡¯t going to pay any attention to me, then I had to do the same to it. After several un-gymnastic like movements, I landed on the ground, literally ten meters from the offended boar. The poor creature understood that I had come down for a reason, and obviously did not want to share its trophy with me. The boar grimaced and showed a very angry face, which it was more than capable of, and launched an attack with a menacing grunt.


    ¡°What a joke, I can do the same you know.¡±


    I took out my homemade weapon and, throwing it from one hand to the other, approached the creature menacingly. The bewildered hog stopped in its tracks. I could see the growing sadness in its face. It seemed unhappy about the fact that it would have to share, and it began to dig up a line in the ground with its hoofs. After that it retired to its half of the ground under the tree.


    I smiled and nodded.


    ¡°Great decision, that side is yours, and this side is mine.¡±


    Incidentally, I said all of this out loud, even without knowing why, but the boar nodded to me with a serious air, as if it understood what I was saying.


    My next step was to find out the reason behind all this messing about. I began to search the bushes in search of a delicacy that had appealed to the boar. I crawled around on my hands and knees for about ten minutes without success.


    ¡°Is there any possibility that the cheeky sod has handed over the ground that it had already emptied of food?¡±


    I moved a little further from the hog¡¯s dividing line, and spent the next ten minutes without coming up with anything. I shook the dirt off my clothes, and went to watch my competitor¡¯s activity: the boar sniffed the ground and would dig with its hoofs and nose in certain places. It ate what it found so quickly that I didn¡¯t have a chance to see what it was.


    After observing a couple of such finds, I returned to my side of the line. I needed to recall how, in my youth, I dug up worms for fishing. I took out the stone from my bag that I had used to get my leaf sword: today it had a different task to do, going from being a weapon to being a shovel. Since I didn¡¯t have the boar¡¯s sense of smell, I decided to rely on my intuition. The first three attempts came out blank. To be honest, I was digging just to give my intuition a chance to warm up.


    When I was choosing the fourth place to dig, one of the areas appealed to me. I did not hesitate for a second. I dug up this site and was well rewarded! I held in my hand a blue-black fruit resembling a shriveled seed. I cleared all the dirt from it completely, and examined it more closely. The game finally decided that after so much hard work, I deserved to know its name, so I could see its description.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Ground raisins are an earthy fruit, very sweet, and a favorite delicacy of many living creatures. It holds hidden properties for some creatures. It grows in clumps, and only one clump of ground raisin mycelium can grow in the forest. From the moment the mycelium is found, new raisins will no longer grow. After all the fruits are harvested, the mycelium will move to a different location. It is used in cooking, alchemy and potions.


    Now everything became clear. I had wondered why the sweet toothed creature didn¡¯t want to share its find with me before. Clearly it was not the only boar around, so it would have to share with others, and the oldest and strongest boar would likely simply push it away from its find.


    When I discovered what I was looking for and how to find it, things went much faster. It turned out that I could fit exactly thirty fruits in one compartment of my bag. In addition to this, the lines that the boar had drawn in the dirt, in my opinion, had divided the space around the tree in a very fair manner. Having finished collecting, which involved digging up almost every centimeter of my zone, I had collected seventy-four ground raisins.


    As soon as my four-legged acquaintance was convinced that I wasn¡¯t looking for anything anymore, he crossed the line he had dug in the ground very carefully, demonstrating from his attitude that we needed to talk. I had no objection to this at all. I had already guessed that for some reason the boar needed more raisins than it had found, and it was clearly not simply because the raisins were delicious.


    Obviously, I had tried the very first fruit: it was incredibly tasty, but for me, sadly, it had little effect. Even my food satisfaction level rose by only 10 points. Deciding not to torment my former competitor any longer, I pulled out fourteen fruits, leaving me with two full compartments only. I pointed to the pile of fruits and invited the boar over. My Intuition which was already at 7% just screamed at me that this was the right thing to do, and I decided to rely on it completely.


    The boar literally jumped onto the fruit pile in a fraction of a second, without giving me a chance to change my mind, and ate about half the fruits on offer. Soon after that, a light wave ran through the fur on its back. It changed color to a dark burgundy color, and the wild boar¡¯s ears became elongated. It grew in height by about sixty centimeters. Its horns became dark black and grew bigger, and its fangs became thicker and forked at the ends. From being a cute young boar it had morphed into a full grown wild boar. At that moment, I could clearly see which species it belonged to:


    The Mangul Ruby Boar is a unique wild boar that has been reincarnated with the help of ground raisins. Ability (unavailable).


    Its name was visible in white letters against a dark green background.


    Your relationship with the Mangul is one of mutual appreciation. Distance to level of Trust - 5 000.


    Thanks to you, there has been a small change in the world: a unique beast has appeared. Before then there had been 49 small changes. The world likes to change and values the changes in different ways: change the world, and it will reward you.


    ¡°Wow! I still have not really left the zone for Newcomers, but I have already helped the emergence of a new unique monster. It appears that here each unique creature has its own scale of relations. The question remained: ¡°Why?¡± It looked like I was about to find out ...¡±


    During my internal monologue, the boar was impatiently shifting from one hoof to another, demanding my full attention. I gestured to show that I would go with it. Convinced that this was so, the wild boar, charged its way through the bushes and went deep into the forest. Of course, unlike the boar, I watched where I was going, but I tried to keep up.


    About fifteen minutes later we reached a huge hill. For some time, the Mangul started sniffing various large stones that were laying around the base of the hill, after which, as if it had made a decision, it chose one of the largest. Then it pulled back a hundred meters, and charged at the stone at full strength, striking it with its forehead.


    I wasn¡¯t prepared at all for what the wild boar did, or what happened next.                  The stone rolled away behind him, and a man-sized hole appeared. Approaching the hole, the Mangul stamped its hoof on the ground, as though emphasizing that I had to go inside. Then it nodded to me respectfully, and disappeared back into the forest. It looked like introducing me to this hole was my reward for giving it the ground raisins. My intuition told me that this gift might be too much for me to deal with, but there was nothing else to be done: my curiosity never left me the slightest chance, and now my legs were inevitably leading me inside the hole.

 Chapter 8: Gifts can be different

    The entrance to the hole was slightly below my height, but the vaults of the cave reached about two meters.


    ¡°I wonder who lives in here?¡± I thought to myself.


    I took another couple of steps inside, and the game sent a fresh message:


    You are the first Newcomer to discover the location of the Ant Hill of the Fire Termites. Within 24 hours of your passage through this location you will receive the following bonuses:


    +100% success rate in random chance;


    + 50% increase in your agility.


    ¡°So, it looks like my new friend showed me not just a cave but a whole Quest. Let''s hope that this location is designed for Newcomers, preferably for one Newcomer on his own, otherwise I will quickly lose my sense of curiosity ...¡±


    As I was still deep in thought, I did not immediately notice that after the latest message had arrived, it became a bit lighter in the cave. Even though it was still impossible to make out the walls, I did get the impression that my eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness.                                                                          The cave walls were partially covered with a brown-gray moss, and a weak glow emanated a couple of centimeters from the walls. The creators of the game seemed to have thought out every little detail, and every minute I spent in this world I increasingly perceived it as reality. It was fun but a little scary: if I feel like this in the first few days, what will happen in three years?


    My reflections were interrupted by a dark shape moving very quickly in my direction. I had no experience in using a sword in combat, so as soon as a nearly meter tall red-black ant popped out in front of me ... I lost control. To be honest, I totally panicked. My body refused to move, and my brain froze completely, but I had to thank my instincts! I wanted to survive, and my instinct for self-preservation over ruled my brain, so I tried to emulate the techniques that I had seen in kung fu movies as best as I could.                                                                         Swinging my sword as best I could, I killed the insect in the last of my seven lives. In the last seconds of the fight, the pain was simply unbearable; I finished the fight on pure willpower.


    ¡°If simple wounds can be so painful, what will happen next? I must find a way to ignore the pain. It is better not to get injured at all, but I don¡¯t think I will get to that level any time soon ...¡± I decided, grimacing from pain.


    You have discovered the ¡°Sword Master¡± skill. Beginner level (1).


    Having squatted down on the site of the recent battle, I ate a couple of yellow fruits without wasting precious time. My Life points rose to almost maximum level - 121 out of a possible 140 points.


    ¡°If the weakest ant in this anthill almost killed me single handed, how am I going to get through this? On top of that there are only 11 yellow fruits left. Perhaps I should retreat and return later, when I''m stronger? It is a pity, really, to miss out on the bonuses, but after all, if I die, I can¡¯t be resurrected!¡±  The analyst inside me demanded that I return later.


    But the gamer inside of me shouted: ¡°The more dangerous the location, the bigger the prize! At the end of the day, I had no choice! I would still have to fight sometime, if not here, then somewhere else.¡±


    Needless to say that the gamer won, as always. I love taking risks and experimenting.


    When I got back on my feet, ready for new quests, another message was displayed:


    Your patron appreciates your decision, and is pleased with your choice and courage. The Trickster¡¯s ratio improved: +350 points. At the moment Good: 0. To attain Respect: 5,000.


    ¡°Hi!¡±The Trickster appeared beside me. ¡°You are a rather interesting person,¡± the patron smiled. ¡°I''m really pleased that you chose me.¡±


    I was truly surprised by his sudden appearance, as I did not expect that my patron would be a real person, I just thought it was someone who would give me bonuses.


    Apparently, my surprise could be clearly read on my face, because the Trickster grinned:


    ¡°What, did you think that I was just sat around somewhere doing nothing and occasionally give you quests to undertake?¡±


    ¡°Something along those lines,¡± I smiled back cautiously. I still did not understand what to expect from this character.


    ¡°No, I myself would not leave my world just to do that. I also love taking risks, adventures and battles, and I love things that are new and unique,¡± The Trickster tossed coins between his fingers as he had done when I had chosen him in the cave. He did it automatically, without even noticing.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case,¡± I decided to ask, ¡°then why did you decide to talk to me here and now?¡±


    My patron smiled.


    ¡°Before now I did not know who you were and what you were capable of. Also, the fact that you brought me into the world and cheered me up a little did not mean that we would get along together. Now, after watching you for a couple of days, I''m sure that if you get some training, then we can achieve much here together ...¡± The Trickster had a dreamy look, and, as if following the mood of their master, the movement of the coins became smoother.


    While my patron was given over to dreams, I neatly moved my position to make life easier for me, so it was more convenient to watch the hole: I did not want to be caught suddenly unawares.


    Noticing my maneuvers, the Trickster was amused:


    ¡°Do not be so afraid! We''ve got at least twenty minutes. I used some of my talents, so they won¡¯t dare to come here for some time.¡±


    The Trickster tossed two coins into the air, and as soon as they touched the ground they increased in size and turned into two dark colored stools. The Trickster, sat down on one of them, and with a gesture, he invited me to sit on the other one, saying: ¡°Please sit down.¡±


    The expression on the patron''s face became serious, and his behavior changed dramatically as soon as the coins disappeared from his hands. Before me now was a clever, discerning companion, restrained in both words and actions.


    ¡°My achievements in this world depend on you,¡± the Trickster began. ¡°Obviously, in the future there will be other Newcomers who will choose me, but for the coming year it''s just you. This year is very important, as it gives me a head start over those who were not chosen this time around.                                         I have plenty of competition, and some of them have been selected by more than one Newcomer. Naturally, the stronger and more powerful I am, the more opportunities and influence you will have.¡± ¡°So, my dear Marten, I''m vitally interested in your development. However, unfortunately, my powers are limited by the contract that I have agreed with this world, and so far I haven¡¯t been able to be of much assistance. Unfortunately, my skills in conventional weapons are modest and a bit of a joke. However, I''ll teach you everything I know.¡±                                                                                                  The Trickster rose and took a step towards me, placing his hands on my forehead, and said: ¡°Close your eyes, Marten, and open your mind to me.¡±


    I relaxed and closed my eyes. At first there was darkness, and then I saw the Trickster in a kaleidoscope of color. He moved very slowly from one combat posture to another, and struck with an invisible sword. As soon as it seemed to me that I had remembered everything, the kaleidoscope disappeared, and I felt that the patron had removed his hands from my forehead.


    I opened my eyes. There were messages for me:


    You have studied ¡°Slashing strikes¡± (cost: 10 mana. The impact upon you is applied instantly). Your weapon deals out +15% damage, has a chance to inflict a bleeding wound, 0.2-0.5% injury every second, for 3 seconds.


    You have studied the ¡°Penetrating strike¡± (cost: 25 mana. The impact is applied instantly). Your weapon deals +20% injury, with a 5% chance of damage to internal organs, additional injury depends on the importance of the organ.


    You have learned the ¡°Evasive movement¡± agility. If you see an attack and you know which part of the body it is aimed at, you have a 10% chance of evasion.


    You have learned the fighting style of ¡°Sword Master¡±. Your movements have acquired logic. Studying the agility of your opponents, you can gradually improve your style, copying and adapting their agility.


    ¡°That''s all I can teach you about sword fighting.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± I thanked the Trickster sincerely. ¡°It''s much more than I knew before, so now, I think I stand a better chance in this cave.¡±


    ¡°Of course you do!¡± The Trickster smiled and began to disappear into the air. ¡°I think your chances are slim, so good luck to you!¡±


    As soon as the patron and the stools had disappeared, another ant flew at me from the darkness. I did not panic, but I was not completely confident that the first victory was not a pure accident. I did not have the required fighting skills yet: and even the skills that I had already acquired did not provide an absolute guarantee. It is one thing to have knowledge, but another thing to be able to apply it.                                                                                                                      Blocking one attack, I tried to sever one of the termite¡¯s legs with my sword, but an unpleasant sensation passed over my hand, and I was afraid that I would lose hold of my sword. However as a result of this maneuver, I injured one of the termite¡¯s legs, and its attacks began to slow down. It shook every time it accidentally stepped on the injured limb. That''s the technique that I wanted to use again in future battles with the termites.


    Still, the uncertainty of whether I could return from the dead without a chance of resurrection, coupled with the pain of my wounds, made me more cautious and constantly held me back. This time I led the fight more deliberately, and I anticipated the attacks from the termite¡¯s legs, some of which I cut with the sword, and others I managed to avoid.                                                                             A couple of times I even managed to evade being bitten. As a result, I twice used ¡°Slashing strikes¡± in my fight, and my ¡°Sword Master¡± skill increased by 2 points (3). I still had 49 life points remaining. So far so good, but there was still room for improvement.


    I decided not to try the ¡°Penetrating strike¡± just yet, unless it became absolutely necessary: I had too little mana left. Four ¡°Slashing strikes¡±, in my opinion, were more effective than one ¡°Penetrating strike¡± and two ¡°Slashing strikes¡±. Although the opportunity to damage its internal organs was very tempting, the chance of success was too low.                                                                                   The bottom line was that I needed to see how effective the techniques were in open combat, or it could be confusing how best to use my weapons. I pondered, all of this having finished off the next monster, and replenishing my health with yellow fruits.


    I carefully negotiated the cave: the passage was uneven, with a sharp turn about every 10-20 steps. The tension was palpable. The technique of chopping off the termites¡¯ legs proved to be a great success: I only had to eat another fruit after the sixth battle. Gradually, I studied the basic combat techniques of the termites and my ¡°Evasive movement¡± agility showed itself in all its glory: here and there my body naturally shifted to one side, and I avoided attack.


    During the second battle it seemed to me that the termite that attacked me was somewhat different from the first one, and the battles that followed confirmed this: every termite in this place was unique.                                                                 The color of their chitin was different, and the way that their mandibles and legs behaved was unique. The last termite I fought proved to be an experienced fighter: it even increased my ¡°Sword Master¡± agility up to 7 points, and my ¡°Agility¡± increased by 3 points, but that wasn¡¯t enough to help me. Surprisingly, it was only then that I got my reward.


    My first reward in this part of the game turned out to be a piece of a plate of dark brown chitin, and the description said that it was the chitin of a Fire termite, but all the rest of the information was unavailable to me. The plate of chitin was quite elastic and looked strong. Rummaging in my bag, I found a couple of pieces of liana creeper: I had put the bits left over in my bag without thinking. I wrapped the plate on my left hand, leaving a five-centimeter gap to the wrist, and secured the whole thing with several knots. It did not look much, but the system still appreciated my efforts:


    You have created an ¡°Unsightly chitinous shield¡±: armor 10 points and a 5% chance to block a blow with the protected part of the arm.


    Your ¡°Craftsman¡± agility has increased: +1 (3).


    You have improved your ¡°Identification of objects¡± agility: +1 (2).


    Brilliant! Now, as I had hoped, I could use my left hand to block attacks. This, of course, was not a proper shield, and I didn¡¯t really have a deft left hand, but in any case it was better than nothing. I still needed to develop the capabilities of my left hand, so it would better to start sooner rather than later. After allowing myself a breather for a couple of minutes, I continued through the anthill.


    It seemed that what worked in the forest worked here too: the further I went, the stronger the opponents became and the more I was afraid to die in the game, but I persevered. My intuition and curiosity cooperated and drove me forward.


    Had my opponents changed? No, they were still termites. Only now they were small and shooting from the ceiling, very much like a cross between a termite and a dung beetle. They died immediately they were hit, only it was difficult to get at them: the shooting termites were constantly on the move, even when they fired a shot.


    I also came across strange red-blue termites. They stood behind their comrades and healed them with a touch. So, I had to block attacks with my left hand and constantly dodge attacks, until I could kill the healers. Only after that could I kill the termite warriors.


    Finishing pretty much the last of my yellow fruit, I summed up my current status:


    Reflexes: + 6 (9). This ability began to grow in leaps and bounds when I began to kill the first termite-healers. I constantly had to dodge the shooters and strikes of the warriors, but I only managed to block 30 percent of the strikes.


    Sword master: + 4 (11).


    Agility:  +2 (13).


    Strength gained: + 1 (10).


    Also due to the fact that the Moon Flower constantly used my mana, and I had started using it myself, my ¡°Intellect¡± increased +1 (6).


    New messages jumped out at me:


    Your ¡°Stamina¡± agility has increased: +1 (15), and moved to a new level, a bonus for every 1 stamina point:


    20 life points - 300 life points;


    0.5% resistance to poisons: 7.5%;


    0.1% avoiding organ damage: 1.5%.


    All this was good news, but, as usual, among them was a bad one. I only had one yellow fruit left. Well, no one promised that it would be an easy ride.


    Luckily, the caves were literally full of unusual flora. Although I suspected that if I had not had a high level of ¡°Attentiveness¡± and my ¡°Herbalist¡± ability, I would have found nothing and would have to fall back as soon as my provisions, with their healing abilities, ran out.                                                                                                                  Passing through the caves, I collected what I considered in my opinion, to be the most promising plants, although oddly enough, all of them were too complicated for my level of ¡°Herbalist¡±. So, to find out what was edible, I adopted an old Neanderthal technique: basically, try everything. So that¡¯s what I did.


    There were only four kinds that I considered to be candidates for food. I started with a dirty orange colored oblong fruit resembling a carrot crossbred with a cactus. It looked the most promising of the bunch, and the fruit had an acidic-salty taste. Having eaten this fruit, which I was unable to find any information about, I did not feel that it had any effect upon me, so I discarded it. Perhaps this is a terribly useful fruit that is used in incredibly complex medicines, but for now it hadn¡¯t helped me in any way.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± agility has increased: +1% (8%).


    ¡°What? I''m guessing that it''s used for healing, or is it just useless for me in this cave? Better not to throw it away then!¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.One by one I tried the fruits; as a result I found two poisonous ones. The first - similar to a cowberry, but only dark green color, possessed a weak poison: it demolished 0.1% of a life point per second for 10 seconds. The second one - similar to a celery root, demolished 10% of my remaining life points, leaving me with 203 points.


    However, the the last one, slightly reminiscent of a black colored passion fruit, was edible, and it gave me 10-40 life points at a time. Out of six fruits one gave 40 points, and the remaining five gave no more than 15 life points. When I ate the sixth fruit, I was given its name:


    ¡°Cave Haiku¡± is a type of edible moss. It grows exclusively in caves, and it can be used in cooking. Edible in its raw form, it provides a top up of 10-60 life points.


    Your ¡°Herbalist¡± agility has increased: +1% (69%).


    ¡°I won¡¯t get very far at this rate if I eat nothing but haiku. I need to find something better ...¡±


    While I still had room in my bag, I saved packs of edible plants thirty at a time.


    My progress had slowed considerably, and I even had to go back in search of more haiku. I began to fight more cautiously, constantly luring the warriors out and fighting from a defensive position to avoid the arrows fired by the mutant shooters. I also worked out a whole strategy for chopping off their legs. Thanks to all this, I managed to reach the end of the cave, and that¡¯s where I stumbled upon the Queen of the hive.


    In front of me was a huge hall, lined with lilac-black stalactites, and amidst this magnificence stood the fiery-amber colored Queen of the termites. It was four meters high. It had six long legs as wide as my torso, and the two front ones ended with what looked like claws, which the termite Queen used as hands. It used the other four to move around.


    ¡°Wow! Apparently, this scenario was designed for more than one gamer!¡±


    The monster did not notice me and was busy with its work. The Queen was busy burying an egg in the ground, which at first glance, looked to be as big as me. I sat down in the passageway and began to chew on the haiku, although I was already tired of this plant. Unlike the yellow fruit I did not particularly care for the taste, however since in this fight I was going to have to use everything that I had at my disposal, I needed to bring my life points to maximum level. I did not have any plan yet, as I watched the Queen dig up and bury a couple more eggs. Her movements were slow and confident, and she did not do anything unusual. I had no idea how many life points she had, and I didn¡¯t know what to expect from her in terms of her attacking capabilities.


    While I was eating, I was trying to think of a reason why I should not attack it, and I came up with several, but my curiosity in company with my intuition joined my desire for advancement and safely rejected them all. In fact, there were two more reasons to take a chance. The first was to prove to myself that I was not afraid, because if you prove to yourself that you are weak, then you will always be afraid. The second reason was my patron: I knew for certain that he was watching me. I was desperate to establish good relations with him and make him respect me.


    ¡°Alas, my termite Queen, you will die today. Either that, or when your children hatch out they may have something to breakfast upon, but that¡¯s down to luck...¡± I grinned.


    I don¡¯t like to put things off, so I waited until the Queen turned her back on me, and, using the ¡°Silent Step¡± and ¡°Easy Step¡± agilities, I quickly went on the attack. First of all, I decided to slice off one of its legs: this had worked well on the termite warriors, which meant that it should work on her. Moreover, her weight was enormous, and this action should seriously damage her mobility.


    Well, so far luck was on my side! I struck a ¡°Critical¡± blow with my very first strike. I understood that this was down to luck, coupled with a blow from behind on a creature that wasn¡¯t expecting to be attacked.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± agility has increased: +1% (9%).


    ¡°Hell! Not now!¡± I waved the message away and continued to strike at the termite¡¯s leg.


    The Queen turned in my direction, but so far I had managed to stay out of her line of sight. So far, her strikes had all missed me, but then, finally, it happened: a thick leg fell to the floor, and the Queen screamed in pain. Her screams disorientated me for about four seconds. It seemed that the Queen had a particular technique of screaming, and that gave her enough time to turn and face me.


    I blocked the first strike from one of her pincers with my hand, but I was thrown back a couple of meters. My hand went numb, and I knew that I had received a critical blow to my health; I only had 240 health points left. Overcoming the pain, I slipped between the blows and slid across the floor under the creature''s belly. It was unlikely that I would last for long, so I decided to go all out, although this was not my first choice as a plan of action. Sliding under the Queen¡¯s belly, I inflicted two ¡°Penetrating strikes¡± in the hope that at least one of them would damage some important organ.


    I was incredibly lucky! I do not know exactly what the ¡°Penetrating Strike¡± damaged, and I was not even sure which of them did it. The Queen howled in pain, and I slipped out from under her. Her life points were shown by a green line on my display, and had reduced by somewhere around 15%. I was hoping for something more, but it was still a good result.


    The pain and her slow reaction played a cruel joke on the Queen. She did not realize that I was behind her, and continued to look for me in front of her. This gave me time to move away from the action. After that, I quickly got up, and began to chop off another leg. Naturally, on the same side as the first, so that the queen collapsed even more to one side and, perhaps, lost her maneuverability altogether. After all, she had only one leg left on that side.


    Still my immobilized hand prevented me from moving as I was used to, so it had taken me a further five minutes to dismember the Queen¡¯s second leg. The advantage spun one way and then the other, but I stayed in control of the situation. I knew that if the Queen turned to face to me again, I would be a dead man.                                                                                                                                My highly developed ¡°Agilities¡± and ¡°Reflexes¡± were exactly what saved me. After I had cut off the termite Queen¡¯s two of the three limbs on the one side, the end of the fight was just a matter of time.


    At the last moment, right before her death, the Queen screamed some sort of command out loud. One of the eggs she had buried awakened, and a very strong warrior climbed out of it.                                                                                                                   I had 73 life points remaining. I had relaxed, thinking that victory was within reach, and didn¡¯t expect such a turn of events. Having finished off the Queen with a final blow, I turned to face the warrior who was still peeling off the eggshell from its face.


    Suddenly the warrior spat some green fluid in my direction. Just a millimeter separated my right wrist from the poison. I was saved by my ¡°Reflexes¡± along with my ¡°Evasive movement¡± agility. If the saliva had hit my wrist, then the fight would have ended in a matter of seconds.


    I concentrated to the last, and using the last of my strength with the remnants of my mana, I conducted a ¡°Slicing strike¡± on the monster¡¯s left attacking leg. Luck was again on my side and I struck it with another ¡°Critical blow¡±. The monster''s leg almost fell away from its body and hung there immobile. However, the monster did not give up. It was much stronger than all the other termite warriors I had met in the cave. It could heal small wounds using its saliva, and managed to evade my attacks. It had different attacking techniques, so I had to dodge them, and not rely solely on my ¡°Evasive movement¡± agility.    I was on the edge of failure: I won the last attack between us only because I executed mine a fraction of a second earlier than it did.


    I stood over the defeated super termite, and I was shaking. Then the body evaporated, and on the floor lay eight fire plates from its scales. Well, that was better than nothing, but to be honest, I was hoping for something more.


    At the end of the cave was a passage, and my intuition pushed me in that direction. I begged my intuition to give me more time, and the first thing that I did was to destroy all the eggs buried in the ground. Then I ate my entire stock of haiku, raising my life points from 10 to 155. After that, without wasting a moment, I headed towards the last hall in the cave. I walked carefully. I had few life points to spare, and I did not want to risk doing anything stupid.


    I had nothing to worry about: the last cave was safe. In addition, it looked phenomenal. The hall was similar in size to the one that I had defeated the Queen in and planted with dwarf trees, reminiscent of oak trees. On each oak there were lots of fruits, and all the fruits were different. Approaching the first tree, I began to look over the fruits. At one point I realized that each fruit corresponded to a termite that I had killed. Realizing this, I began to search for the Queen¡¯s royal fruit.


    It was no surprise that I eventually found it. I found the Queen¡¯s fruit, and it hung from the biggest tree in the middle of the hall, and of course it was difficult to get at. On the same tree were the fruits that corresponded to her defenders, or at least that was my conclusion, since their number corresponded to the number of eggs I had destroyed plus one dead warrior.                                                      Realizing that I couldn¡¯t take away the Queen¡¯s fruit, I decided to take the fruit of one of the warriors. I thought that I would end up with an excellent pet to share my difficult journey.


    My hand was ready to tear the fruit of my future pet, and then it felt that I had been struck by lightning: my intuition totally disagreed with my decision. The strangest thing was that the Moon Flower, which had not taken an active part in my adventures before now, grabbed my sleeve with its roots and wouldn¡¯t allow me to touch the fruit.


    I was furious: ¡°I almost died here, and I deserve this pet as my reward!¡±


    I stretched out my hand again and experienced even stronger resistance.


    ¡°Okay, you do not want me to have this fruit, so let''s try another one ...¡± I reached for the next fruit, but still it pulled me back.


    Then my curiosity was awakened: I began to reach out to every fruit in this tree, but the Moon Flower wasn¡¯t happy with any of them. I tried to do this on a couple of other trees with the same result.


    So I said to myself, ¡°Okay, since you so stubbornly believe that I need a different reward then I must at least find it ...¡±


    I began to go from tree to tree and look at the fruits. All were pretty much identical. Most of them I recognized and could even remember exactly how I fought them. With every passing minute I became more convinced that I really should not be looking to take a pet from here. Too simple. Of course, my passage through the cave had been tough, and I had been extremely lucky to be able to master those caves, but why would I take a pet born from a creature that I had killed? I had a choice.                                                                                            It didn¡¯t appear to follow the style of the game¡¯s creators, although the reward, of course, could be potentially excellent and arguably worth the risk. Basically that¡¯s what I was looking for, except that the analyst in me shouted that something was hiding from me and this was something potentially much better than all these pets:


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +1% (10%).


    That was the confirmation that I needed, and right after the message, my gaze fell on an unpretentious looking tree in the hall. It was full of fruits relating to the very first termites that I had come across. There was a faded red glow emanating from the foliage on the right hand side of the tree, and it drew me towards it. Approaching the tree, I opened the leaves and saw a small red fruit. I plucked it without hesitation. As soon as I did that all the other trees in the hall melted into thin air.


    ¡°The Ruby Seed¡± is a unique legendary edible fruit.


    You have obtained the achievement of ¡°Legendary Fruit Seeker¡±. You have found one of the legendary fruits hidden in this world.


    +2% chance of finding something legendary.


    +2% chance of meeting a legendary creature.


    You are the first Newcomer to receive ¡°Legendary Seeker¡± status.


    +2% chance to be awarded a legendary quest to undertake.


    ¡°Is that all I get? No, of course, there was a sense of achievement, especially because I was the first of the Newcomers to achieve such a feat. The bonuses were small but still useful, which I was pleased about, but why did I end up with an edible seed and not a pet? Could it even have been unique and legendary? I wasn¡¯t happy with this deal. Why on earth did my Intuition and the Moon Flower want me to have it so badly?¡±                                                                          ¡°Okay, I understand that a flower is just a flower, and that it can relate to other plants. But what I didn¡¯t understand was why my Intuition went off the scale! Okay, I definitely will not eat the fruit yet, but we''ll see what happens. Maybe it will be really useful to me in the future, but at the moment I am clueless. True, the ground raisins were also just a fruit, until my new friend ate as much as it needed. Maybe this one is a necessary piece of my evolution, but even better, not just simple evolution, but something legendary and unique ...¡± I reassured myself.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +5% (15%).


    ¡°Got it!¡± Already feeling less frustrated, I headed for the exit.


    Upon leaving the caves I remembered that during the fighting I had received lots of messages. Deciding to rest for a while, I sat down in the lotus pose on the ground and began to catch up on the backlog. Ignoring the small details, this is what I received:


    Your ¡°Agility¡± has increased: +1 (14).


    Your ¡°Strength¡± agility has increased: +1 (11).


    Your ¡°Sword Mastery¡± agility has increased: +1 (12).


    Your ¡°Accuracy¡± agility has increased: +1 (11).


    Your ¡°Reflexes¡± agility has increased: +1 (10).


    Thanks to your ¡°Sword Master¡± agility, you have learned a new way to apply the ¡°Penetrating Strike¡± agility.


    You have studied the ¡°Crippling Strike¡± as a subcategory (cost: 50 mana, to the impact if it is applied when evading a strike). Your weapon deals +50% damage, and 10% chance of damage to internal organs. Additional damage depends on the importance of the organ.


    ¡°Excellent! I can learn new techniques if I use my imagination and think out of the box!¡±  This discovery really cheered me up.


    You have a new: ¡°Inventiveness¡± agility: +1 (1).


    Your ¡°Intellect¡± agility has increased: +1 (7).


    Your ¡°Accuracy¡± agility has increased: +1 (12).


    Your ¡°Agilities¡± have increased: +1 (15). It has moved to a higher level, and you will now receive a bonus of 1 point for every agility that you have mastered.


    0.5% evasion from conventional attacks - 7.5%;


    0.2% of avoiding critical attacks - 3%;


    +1% increase in speed - 15%.


    You are the first Newcomer to negotiate the Hive of the Fire Termites. You have obtained ¡°Pioneer¡± reputation. This achievement gives you the opportunity to learn (unavailable), and this achievement can be improved upon, but for that to happen you will have to be the first pioneer to negotiate a further 10 scenarios.


    +10% chance of receiving an exceptional bonus if you are the first to negotiate a new scenario.


    +5% bonus, if you are the first to negotiate the scenario.


    If you manage to negotiate a scenario solo that has been designed for two or more gamers, then you will achieve the ¡°Fearlessness¡± agility. This achievement gives you the opportunity to learn (unavailable), and this achievement can be improved upon. The condition is to go solo to 10 more scenarios that are designed for 2-4 players.


    +10% bonus for the loss of life points when passing solo through a scenario designed for 2-4 players.


    +5% increase in agilities when passing through a scenario solo that was designed for 2-4 players.


    ¡°Well then, at least my efforts have been appreciated!¡± The more messages I got, the happier I became.


    The Trickster is pleasantly surprised that you managed to negotiate this scenario. The Trickster¡¯s opinion of you has gone up: +150. At the moment it stands at Good: 150 points. To reach Respect you will need to achieve 4,850 points.


    The second that I noticed the ¡°Ruby Seed, my ¡°Attentiveness¡± agility increased.


    Your ¡°Attentiveness¡± agility has increased: +1 (15), and moved to a new level. Bonus for each point of ¡°Attentiveness¡±:


    +5% - detection of things that are not easily seen - 75%;


    +1% - detection of hidden items - 15%;


    +0.1% - detection of items hidden by magic - 1.5%.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting there!¡± I summed up.


    Now I understood how the game¡¯s creators had designed a way of self improvement for the gamers. First of all, you need to understand how to get the right ability, agility, talents and much more. After that, if you use them in the right way, then they will grow quite quickly to 15 points, or in the case of percentages, until it increases until you reach the next level. So what happens to a beginner when they reach a level of 15 points? The bonuses improve dramatically, but the growth slows down considerably. So the gamer has to concentrate on something specific, because the higher the agility reaches, then the greater the bonus will be for each level.


    I was obviously missing something, because I was sure that the system before me was too simple. I had already been thinking about all of this on my to the cave¡¯s exit. Finally, I found myself back under open skies. To be truthful, I was not used to being in caves. My friendly wild boar was nowhere to be found, but my internal body clock told me that it was already evening. Obviously, I could see that for myself, but this was an agility that I needed, so I planned to fully develop it. I had a suspicion that at a higher level it would display more than just time to me.


    I decided that was enough adventure for one day. I found a suitable tree and made a basic bed as I had done before.

 Chapter 9: Head to Head

    When I woke up, the first thing I did was to go and find food. I came across a lot of different fruits, but they were not as good as the yellow ones when it came to replenishing my life points. While checking out those that were edible and those that weren¡¯t, my ¡°Herbalist¡± ability increased to 79% and my health was completely restored.


    Then I decided to concentrate on the search for some more yellow fruits, and in three hours of walking through the forest I was able to collect eighteen of them. At one particular moment, I decided to take a break and was looking around for a suitable place, when about a hundred meters away from me I heard a rustle. I tensed and prepared for battle. Realizing that they couldn¡¯t take me by surprise anymore, a pack of creatures came running at me from all sides. The creatures looked like jackals, but there was something strange about them. They appeared as some form of illusion, so that their opponent would underestimate them, when in reality they were vicious and ruthless.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +2% (17%).


    ¡°So, it wasn¡¯t an illusion after all...!¡± right before the message popped up, I was ready to attack the leader of the pack first and show myself as dangerous as possible.


    Working out which one was the leader was easy: it was the largest creature, almost one and a half meters to the shoulders, with a brighter coat than the others. Also, the tip of one of its ears was missing. I would bet all the yellow fruit that I had that it was proud of this disfigurement. I felt that it was specifically showing off its injury off.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +1% (18%).


    Even though my intuition was silent about what I should do next, I had already changed my mind, and decided not to attack, to see how events would pan out. The pack was approaching me until it was a meter away, and then froze. The leader, however, continued to move on and stopped only when his moist nose met mine. The smell from the leader was very unpleasant and at the same time incredibly strong. I did not understand how come I hadn¡¯t found him by his stench in the first place. The whole pack roared viciously and made attacking movements in my direction. You could say that they did everything they could to provoke me into attacking them back.


    ¡°Maybe you could move your wet nose away from mine?¡± I addressed the leader of the pack. ¡°Clearly, you can¡¯t attack me. If you really were a pack of wild animals, then you would have torn me apart a long time ago. So, you have already lost your opportunity to provoke me. Why exactly am I talking to you anyway?¡±


    ¡°You bloody son of a bitch!¡± The leader of the pack¡¯s voice sounded like a rusty door¡¯s creaking. As it was saying this, its body started transforming, until it resembled a human being, but not quite. Its face was still muzzle shaped like jackal¡¯s, and it still had claws instead of hands, and a tail as well. ¡°How dare you mock the elite warriors of the Werewolves?¡±


    ¡°Clearly, you are elite jackals, but shitty Werewolves!¡± I quipped sarcastically in reply.


    The pack leader¡¯s face turned crimson red. It lifted a claw to strike me and when its claw touched my neck, I cursed my tongue and prepared to say goodbye to my life.


    A huge warrior from the pack pulled its leader¡¯s claw away at the last moment:


    ¡°Grarg, do not dare to lay a claw on him. We''re in the sacred forest of the Fairies. Harm him and the Fairies will curse our kind forever. It''s not worth it; we''ll find him later and have fun torturing him until he dies in agony.¡±


    I felt that Grarg was struggling to control himself because he really wanted to end my life. A minute later, which lasted almost an eternity as far as I was concerned, he turned around and signaled that everyone should follow. He transformed back into a four-legged beast, and after that the entire pack disappeared into the forest.


    ¡°So, what just happened exactly?¡± The analyst inside me woke up and demanded to understand what had just occurred.


    I felt that if I understood everything clearly and quickly, then I could turn the situation to my advantage: ¡°So, think, think ... The pack couldn¡¯t attack me. Moreover - the pack knew this from the beginning. I am one hundred percent sure about this. So, what was this show all about? Clearly, they were in a hurry to be somewhere else. Grarg didn¡¯t even say goodbye. Folk like him would never leave so quickly without having the final word. Also, why were they trying to provoke me? They were even prepared to waste time on me, plus they obviously knew that I was here, but I only learned about their presence when they wanted me to. The rustle in the forest was obviously deliberate. When they ran off, they did it completely silently. So, it seemed that there was only one logical conclusion: I could become an unwelcome witness, so unwelcome that they were ready to risk being discovered and not being where they needed to be on time.¡± As soon as all the parts in the jigsaw came together, the analyst in my head calmed down.


    However, my curiosity was awakened, and my intuition wasn¡¯t averse to further adventure either. So, putting off my rest period to a more convenient time, I closely examined the place where the leader of the pack had been standing. The Werewolves¡¯ tracks changed, depending on the shapes the pack transformed into. I remembered both alternatives and jogged along the tracks after the pack.


    Half an hour into my jog a message appeared about my newly acquired ¡°Pathfinder¡± ability. At some points I lost their tracks, but after a minute or two of circling around, I found them again and continued on my way.


    Some three hours later I heard the sound of fighting. Trying not to give myself away, I hid behind a tree trunk on the edge of a glade. Obviously, I made certain that there were no mushrooms on the tree similar to the ones that I had encountered before.


    Your ¡°Pathfinder¡± ability has increased: + 10% (11%).


    Your level of camouflage is now at 40%.


    It was strange, usually abilities would increase in value when they were being used, but in this case my ¡°Pathfinder¡± ability had increased immediately.


    Leaving the thought of the strangeness of what was happening for later; I observed what was taking place in the glade. I noticed a huge tree in the middle. Its foliage was emerald green, and each leaf resembled a hand, on which all the fingers were bunched together. The branches of the tree completely shaded the glade, which was around five hundred meters across, from the Sun¡¯s rays. The tree was incredibly tall and with a very thick trunk, and a massacre was currently taking place under it.


    The pack of Werewolves that I recently met was fighting against a flock of birds. The birds looked like something between a falcon and an eagle, but mostly resembling an osprey. I always liked that type of bird, and it was especially unpleasant to see such noble birds getting massacred, and there was no doubt that they would lose this fight. Two birds fought desperately, protecting their nest, and three Werewolves already lay dead in the glade, including that huge one who had pulled the pack leader off me.


    A young osprey was also involved in the fight: it repulsed attacks from its nest, constantly diving at the Werewolves who were attempting to get to it and not allowing them to get something shiny inside. Most of the Werewolf pack was engaged in fighting the adult birds, and only this young osprey managed to defend the nest site on its own.


    I made my decision in an instant: I did not hesitate for a second and I had no doubt about my choice of action. The analyst in my head immediately calculated that there was zero chance to save the pair of adult birds, so I took the only action that was open to me: to try to save the young osprey.


    The bottom line was that if I was too late, then at least I could snatch what they had been guarding. In doing so I could prevent the Werewolves from seizing the treasure that they held to be so valuable that they were willing to risk the wrath of the Fairies, given that the Fairies had a monopoly on basic ¡°Vorto¡±.


    Running into the glade, I took out three Fiddle mushrooms from my bag and threw them to my right. For a moment the whole pack froze, and some even turned to the sound. The female osprey was already lying dead on the grass, but the male, as I had hoped, was an experienced fighter and still held his ground. Assessing the new situation, he rushed at the Werewolves with all that he had and began to attack them with his beak and claws. I gave him the opportunity to take down two more enemies, and he gave me time to run to the tree without any problems and by doing so save the last bird.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I quickly climbed into the nest, and pushed aside the young osprey that was barely standing on its legs, and smiling, I looked directly into Grarg¡¯s eyes:


    ¡°Well, that''s it then; your chances here have run out. If I understand correctly, you shouldn¡¯t be here in the first place. If the Fairies find out that you have been here and attacked the birds, you will be very sorry.¡±


    Grarg transformed again and stood before me with a face as red as a beetroot. It seemed to me that his face was even redder than the last time we had crossed paths.


    ¡°Hand over the teardrop stone, otherwise I''ll tear you apart and eat you!¡± He croaked.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like he''s joking: he''s really ready to break any laws, just to get ... what is this thing anyways?¡± I turned toward the brilliant stone that lay in the middle of the nest.


    It was small, translucent, and really did remind me of teardrop. It was the size of my fist. I reached out my hand towards the stone, and the bird tensed, ready to fight to its last breath.


    ¡°Relax, I''ll return it to you. They cannot attack me, same as you, which means they cannot take it away from me, and I will not give it to them myself either.¡±


    The bird silently nodded and, as if coming to a decision, leaned against the side of the nest. I even noticed a wry smile upon its face, as if it appreciated the humor of the situation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s think about this, I am the weakest creature among everything here, but I am the one holding the stone that you were killing each other over, and there is nothing any of you can do about it ...¡±


    I turned to face the raging and screaming insults coming from the werewolf pack, and pointedly turned the stone over and over in my hand in front of them:


    ¡°Now clear off, jackals! If you don¡¯t leave the forest immediately, I will contact the fairy who gives me my quests!¡± I was bluffing, but how could they know that the person before them had no direct connection with the Fairies. I actually didn¡¯t even have access to the meadow in the arrival location.


    For a few minutes I was ordered about, threatened, and told in no uncertain terms what they would do to me if I didn¡¯t give them the teardrop stone. I had had enough of it all, and I put my hand to my ear, pretending that I was communicating with my fairy.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get you for this, you son of a bitch! Remember that you are now being hunted by the whole Werewolf pack! All the Werewolves and those who serve them will hunt you down! We will dispatch you back to your home world, Newcomer!¡± After he finished his speech, Grarg transformed back into the form of a beast.


    The whole pack followed his example. They escaped much faster, obviously not caring about moving quietly: only speed was important at this point.


    Your relationship with the race of Werewolves is one of Sworn Enemy. Your distance from the worst of the enemy is 2,500.


    Just as I thought: they really wanted to avoid a meeting with the Mistresses of the forest much more than they wanted to get their hands on the teardrop stone, and they clearly understood that there was no chance of them taking the stone from me.


    As soon as the Werewolves disappeared from sight, I put the stone back in the center of the nest. Just seeing the stone again in its rightful place, the bird finally relaxed.


    Your relationship with the ¡°Copper Winged Birds¡± is good. To achieve the reputation of ¡°Friendship¡±: (unavailable).


    ¡°So then, you are a Copper Winged Bird, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    The bird nodded.


    ¡°Okay, take this,¡± I offered it one of the yellow fruits.


    Without hesitation, the bird gently picked up the fruit with its claw and started pecking at it. I didn¡¯t know why, but I was sure that I had already done everything I needed to do here, although I didn¡¯t fully understand why I had done any of it in the first place. I left the Copper Wing Bird two more fruits, which I put close to the teardrop stone. I felt that this was the right thing to do. I bid the bird farewell and moved towards the edge of the nest. I heard the bird reaching for a second fruit and beginning to peck it, after which I heard a sound like a sigh of loss, and after that I heard a flock of falcons wailing above my head. Two seconds later, a heap of messages rained down on me.


    You have completed the hidden quest called ¡°Protecting the Nest¡±. The quest of ¡°Choosing Someone Worthy¡± is open to you.


    You have completed the quest of ¡°Choosing Someone Worthy¡±. Your relationship with the ¡°Copper Winged Birds¡± is one of friendship. To reach the reputation of Trust: (unavailable).


    The Copper Winged Bird will permit you to select him as a Totem or spirit guide. You can have only one creature as a Totem. Consider your decision carefully, as it''s impossible to break the connection with the Totem afterwards.


    ¡°Wow! So that was my Quest! I have followed it all the way through without even knowing about it. Regarding the Totem, my decision was quite straightforward already...¡± I confirmed my decision without blinking.


    As soon as I confirmed my decision, I felt an unbearable pain in the chest, as if a pattern of some sort had been etched into it with a tip of a blade. Unable to withstand the pain, I passed out. I wasn¡¯t sure for how long I lay unconscious, but during that time, my friendly Copper Wing managed to finish off the two fruits that I had left for him and tidy up the nest site. It was difficult for me to describe exactly what had changed, but the nest definitely looked tidier. Another change awaited me on my palm: the Copper Winged one had placed a teardrop stone in my hand.


    Having found your Totem, you have achieved the reputation of ¡°Close in Spirit¡± - this achievement gives you the opportunity to learn (unavailable).


    You are the first Newcomer to choose a bird as a Totem, and you have obtained the reputation of ¡°Friend of the Feathered¡±. Nobody that chooses a bird as a Totem will be able to declare you a ¡°Sworn enemy¡±. You will have access to unique quests related to birds.


    You can use the power of the Totem while at least one of the representatives of this type of bird remains. Your Totem is a ¡°Copper Winged Falcon¡±. There is only 1 in this world.


    The power of the Totem will grow, and the bonuses that you receive from it will also grow along with it.


    Your totem is at the ¡°Beginner¡± level. Current bonuses connected to this Totem are:


    +10% to ¡°Speed¡±;


    +10% to ¡°Evasion from attacks¡±.


    ¡°The bird tricked me! He pretended as if he was doing me a favor by allowing me to choose him as a Totem, but the fact is that he needs me more than I need him...¡±


    You have achieved the reputation of ¡°Worthy of Trust¡±. The keeper of the teardrop stone has chosen to trust you with the ¡°Teardrop of the forest stone¡±. This reputation can be improved upon, for that you need to earn the trust of another 10 guardians of relics. Everyone in the world knows that no guardian will just give up what he is protecting.


    +10% increase in the chance of receiving very rare quests.


    I looked at the stone in my hand:


    The relic is a ¡°Teardrop of the forest stone¡±, and it can be used in many ways.


    Then I received another message:


    For your actions during the quest, your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +10% (28%).


    ¡°Now it¡¯s clear to me: if I undertake a hidden quest, my abilities only increase once I finish it, but I wonder why the game¡¯s creators adopted that rule at all. Although this is quite unpleasant, at least it¡¯s possible to work out that you are undertaking a hidden quest. I am also wondering, in what many ways a Relic can be used? Clearly they are all unique and can be used in different ways. So, if I choose a certain course of action, then is it all just guesswork? Obviously, a psychologist of some sorts was involved in this aspect of the game¡¯s creation. You receive a reward, but it comes with a dilemma...¡± I pondered to myself.


    After reading all the messages that had come through, I finally took notice of the bird, who had been wandering around impatiently.


    ¡°Are you a male?¡± I decided to clarify.


    The falcon stopped in front of me and nodded.


    ¡°What are you planning to do now?¡±


    The falcon pretended not to understand the question, and concentrated on cleaning his plumage.


    ¡°As I suspected, I can¡¯t depend on you entirely. I know that you will help me, but only if it¡¯s in your own personal interest. Am I right?¡±


    I didn¡¯t quite know how the Copper Winged bird managed to portray a cheeky grin on his face, but the fact was that he did!


    ¡°What am I supposed to do with you? Now I have to protect you with my own life, when I can¡¯t even protect myself.¡±


    The bird came up and rubbed his head against the sleeve of my shirt. It seemed that I had just heard some words of support, even though the falcon hadn¡¯t made a single sound. Also, I found it most unusual to see a falcon moving on foot, and not using his wings.


    ¡°Okay, I think I need to go back to the original plan and tame the creature from the clearing. Are you ready to leave the nest?¡±


    The falcon nodded confidently.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡±


    This time the bird shook his head in disagreement.


    ¡°Is there anything else I need to do?¡± I asked.


    This time there was another positive response.


    ¡°What do I need to do?¡±


    The bird flew to one of the branches and pecked it.


    ¡°Do you want me to rip that off and take it with me?¡±


    The Copper Winged bird nodded in agreement.


    ¡°I have room in my bag, so why not take it? The tree is noticeable, and you never know how useful it could be...¡±


    In truth, from the very beginning I wanted to pick some leaves from the tree anyways, because they were so interestingly shaped, but I didn¡¯t want to offend my Totem. Everything had worked out in a completely unexpected way! I carefully cut off the branch with my leaf sword and put it in my bag. The falcon had already flown to the side and pecked at a new one, so I gathered up fifteen branches. Then, with my Totem¡¯s agreement, I collected one hundred and twenty leaves: that was the exact amount that would fit in one compartment of my bag.


    Unfortunately, at this stage I didn¡¯t know the name of the tree, or what I could do with its leaves and branches. When I finished ripping off the parts of the Copper Winged bird¡¯s family tree, I climbed down. Strangely, the corpses of the murdered Werewolves and Osprey had already disappeared, so this time I left empty handed loot wise.


    Looking at the Totem hovering next to me, and making sure that he was really ready to leave, I headed for the Moon glade.

 Chapter 10: Forest Etiquette

    At this point, while walking through the forest, I noticed many more details around me: the forest was amazing! How didn¡¯t I notice all of this before? Here and there I came across different creatures: from flying squirrels-like animals to common hedgehogs. I was also able to detect many new unknown plants that I hadn¡¯t noticed before, but unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of them were absolutely useless to me.


    However, I did stumble upon a bush that was covered with berries, which looked like grapes, only they were coral colored with blue veins, and I sensed that these could be useful to me. To tell the truth, the falcon discovered the bush: he shouted out and instantly dived in to help himself to a treat. He began to peck away at everything within reach as fast as he could. Sadly for him, his stomach was small: the bird''s eyes showed a mix of a desire to consume more and a disappointment that he was already full.


    The falcon flew towards me, and for a brief time, I was watching as my Totem was flying between the trees as somebody who was very drunk. Finally, he realized that he couldn¡¯t fly properly, but the bush was obviously closer to him than I was. The Copper Winged bird turned back and landed next to it. Then he looked at me hungrily.


    ¡°Are the berries really that delicious?¡± I asked.


    As I expected, he nodded in affirmative.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡± I went over to the bush and picked a couple of berries. ¡°Now let¡¯s try some... Wow! They really are delicious!¡± I tore off a whole bunch.


    The ¡°Chewy Berry¡±. Used in potions and cooking. It is edible raw. The Chewy Berry is widely used, and they are a particular favorite of almost all birds.


    ¡°Now I get it. Okay, if it¡¯s such a tasty and useful fruit then we''ll collect as many as we can,¡± I promised the falcon.


    Fortunately for my Totem, there were a dozen more of these bushes nearby, and since a single compartment in my bag could hold a hundred and twenty fruits, I filled up three of them. After that, ignoring the pleading looks from the bird, which was ready to live the rest of its life in here, we continued on our way. I threatened it that if the badly-behaved bird didn¡¯t follow me, then I would burn down all the bushes. Looking me in the eyes, the Totem understood what I was telling him, even if he hadn¡¯t quite sobered up yet. Wobbling around unsteadily, he hurried along after me. It was a good thing that the falcon didn¡¯t know that I had never even started a fire in this world, and I wasn¡¯t even sure if I could do it or not.


    Around lunchtime, as I approached another meadow, I thought I could hear the faint sound of running water. It suddenly dawned on me just how thirsty I was!  I had survived without water for several days, just like a long-clawed ground squirrel.


    Enchanted by the sound, I followed it to its source, and I found myself by a forest stream. As I studied it a little longer, a name appeared:  the ¡°Sparkling River¡±, although it was more like a stream. My Copper Winged bird was flying above me, so he spotted the little river before I did. He drew my attention to it with a squawk, and he pointed out one of the tree branches.


    ¡°Obviously, you do not want to go there.¡±


    The falcon nodded.


    The river¡¯s name was a perfect choice: the whole river shimmered with different colors and sparkled in the sunlight. Even from a distance I had to cover my eyes with my hand from its reflection, so I wondered what could happen when I got even closer. However, my thirst still drove me to the river. The reflection from it was cutting mercilessly into my eyes, bringing me to tears. I closed my eyes, made a cup from my hands and feeling around, I scooped up a little water. The water was very cold and incredibly tasty.


    You now have the ¡°Surviving Without Water¡± ability. This achievement is part of rare abilities. You can survive for more than a week merely from the moisture contained in plants and fruits.


    ¡°That¡¯s impressive, but what else does it give me? Also, what other abilities are needed? Of course, I understand what it¡¯s like to live ¡°without food¡±, but I don¡¯t want to go hungry for no good reason. So, the analogy is that this reward should give me the ability to survive without water for a week!¡±


    I waited for a while, making sure that there were no harmful side effects from drinking the water. Still keeping my eyes closed, I bent my head down, and began to drink directly from the river. After drinking my fill, I got up and was about to leave. However, my intuition woke up: I was literally pushed back towards the river. I still didn¡¯t understand why this was the case, because I hadn¡¯t learned how to listen to my intuition yet.


    ¡°Okay, whatever you think is the right thing to do!¡±


    I squatted down and, hoping for an enlightenment, started running my hands over the smooth surface of the water. When my hands became accustomed to the cold, I started playing with water, scooping it up and letting it run through my fingers, for the sake of trying something new... Suddenly my hand hit something. I was so surprised that I almost fell into the river.


    ¡°Well, what do we have here?¡± I carefully extended my hand towards whatever was there, and started feeling around until it came to rest on some sort of a stone.


    My Intuition was ecstatic.


    ¡°This must be some kind of madness! It seems like some kind of animal is living inside me! Maybe I am going mad. It''s a good thing that I still remember that I¡¯m actually in a game ...¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s not worry about all that,¡± I reassured my intuition. ¡°I get it: we need these stones.¡±


    I began to systematically move my hands along the bottom of the river, collecting the stones. Falling into a rhythm, I switched off my conscious thought, and did everything on instinct. At one point, I held a stone in my hand, but I couldn¡¯t add it to my collection in the bag.


    Your compartment is full!


    ¡°How many stones have I already collected? Not to worry, the main thing is that my bag isn¡¯t overloaded, but if I find something more important, then I''ll throw them out,¡± I decided.


    All wet and tired, I walked away from the river. My feathered friend was sat calmly on a branch and preening its feathers.


    ¡°You are one lazy bum! You should have been flying around searching for something interesting!¡± I scolded the bird.


    The falcon pretended not to hear, but looked at me with interest, as if to ask ¡°what¡¯s next then?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t think we are far from where I want to be. Let¡¯s go. I''ll show you a nice meadow.¡±


    As I expected, half an hour later we were at the edge of the lunar meadow, only this time on the opposite side of the large tree, with the Fiddle mushrooms growing on its trunk. I got the impression that this was the only tree in the vicinity that they were growing on.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± ability has increased: +1% (29%).


    ¡°That message confirms my suspicion. Now I don¡¯t even need to check it myself. Intuition is a really cool thing. Only I have a suspicion that, thanks to it, I will have many more adventures, and end up falling on my ass many more times ...¡± Before I had time to contemplate my potentially problematic future, a new message popped up:


    Your ¡°Intuition¡± has increased: +1% (30%).


    ¡°The developers of the game have quite a sense of humor! Who would have thought? Even the fact that they managed to include such an option makes me want to laugh!¡± I chuckled.


    This time the meadow was full of life. Alphiners of all sizes and colors were engaged in amusing themselves: some played with each other, some chased butterflies, and a couple simply lay carelessly on the grass. They had noticed me a long time ago, but completely ignored me.


    I looked around and identified the small creature that I had met on my last visit, so I headed straight to him. He was one of the Alphiners playing around, chasing his friend. When I approached, the Alphiner pretended to just notice that I was there, and gave me a questioning look, as if saying ¡°We''re playing here, so why did you come?¡±


    I silently took out a couple of Haiku fruits that had been in my bag ever since the visit to the cave. Just like last time, I offered the creature both of the treats on the palm of my hand.


    My Copper Winged companion, who hadn¡¯t yet decided how to behave in this situation, was flying around in circles, observing what was happening below on the ground with curiosity.


    Sniffing the air, my old friend looked at the fruits with interest, but he was in no hurry to try them. However, its play friend didn¡¯t possess such self-control. He could smell the delicacy, and he came closer to the palm of my hand, preparing to snatch one of the fruits. Realizing that being cautious was not in his favor in this instance, my old friend also instantly shortened the distance between us, and he was lucky to pick up the last fruit before it was too late.


    I had plenty of Haiku, so I just put all of them in a pile at my side. The creatures in the meadow realized that they were in no danger, so one by one they slowly approached and joined the feast. I was already able to stroke and play with almost all the animals in the meadow, without any fear. Some of them tried to knock me over, and playfully nibble at me, and some of them even rolled over to have their bellies scratched.


    We were all having fun, but suddenly everything changed. There was a tension in the air: I looked around the meadow and saw a new creature. This was clearly the leader of the pack. It was copper colored and one and a half times larger than any other Alphiner present in the meadow. This creature was also different in a sense that its tails looked a lot more dangerous. They looked like two whips and a decently sized hammer.


    ¡°Just look at that! What a potential pet that would make! This makes my decision easy!¡± I thought presumptuously.


    The pack leader was approaching me with a formidable look about him. He clearly didn¡¯t share my optimism regarding our future friendship.


    You have received too much attention from the Alphiner pack from the enchanted forest of the Celestial Fairies. The leader of the pack exercises his right to invite you to a fair fight. In the event that you refuse, your reputation with the pack will change to Distrust.


    Do you agree to the combat?


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not like I have a choice at this point!¡± I had no intention of losing my hard-earned friendship.


    ¡°The real question is what exactly constitutes a fair fight?¡± The thought flashed through my mind.


    The rules of a fair fight: one-on-one combat. The use of any kind of weapons, magic, elixirs and amplifications are forbidden. Also, during the combat divine powers do not work. The fight will begin in 2 minutes.


    ¡°Wow, that really is a fair fight.¡±


    I put my sword away in the compartment in the bag that was now empty of Haiku fruit. I took the bag off as well, throwing it on the grass. I took off my shield protection and threw it down on the grass next to the bag. That was all the weaponry that I was carrying. I had no magic knowledge at all, and none of the other things mentioned either.


    ¡°Okay, you with the big tails, let''s fight.¡±


    I heard a sound of a gong, and the big Alphiner was in front of me already. One of his tails cut me with a single swing. As I lay on my back looking at the sky, the hammer tail swung at my head. It''s good that my ¡°Sliding Movements¡± ability worked, and I managed to roll out of the way. I jumped to my feet and, seeing the shadow of the third tail coming at me, I dodged to the left to avoid the impact.


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. It looks like you can only swing them one at a time!¡± I cut the distance and swiped back at him.


    My opponent didn¡¯t expect such impudence from me and didn¡¯t have time to jump out of the way. My attempt missed its mark, but apparently, I had seriously injured one of his paws. My leg was aching as well, but during the passage through the caves, I had become used to such pain and was able continue the fight. During the next five minutes of fighting I was on the lookout for ways to take my opponent by surprise. I caught hold of one of his tails and tried to entangle it in one of his paws. When this first attempt wasn¡¯t successful, I caught hold of the second tail and tried to tie them together in a knot. The Alphiner didn¡¯t fall for it either. Catching me off guard, he slapped me on the left hand with his hammer tail, as he was untangling the other tails.


    As a result, I quickly changed tactics and decided to concentrate on his injured paw. Was it cruel? Of course, but I couldn¡¯t see any alternative, so I just started to strike at the injured paw every chance I got. Another couple of minutes of similar tactical strikes and all sorts of fighting maneuvers from both sides followed. Both breathing heavily, we were slowly walking around each other in circles. My left arm was useless and my legs were aching after so many blows from the creature¡¯s tails. My right side was pulsating in pain after a direct hit from the hammer shaped tail. The Alphiner was dragging his injured leg behind, and he was towing the left side whip tail behind him through the grass. I had managed to knock the pack leader over on the grass, and without wasting time, I had jumped on this injured tail with all my weight, and that¡¯s when I had taken the hammer blow to my side.


    My Copper Winged friend had joined the pack in the meadow, and was following the fight along with the rest of them. If I understood correctly, the bird had swayed half the pack into rooting for me.


    ¡°What a cool Totem I have!¡± I was touched. ¡°But what should I do with this pack leader? Without weapons, we were equal in strength, maybe he is even stronger than me. I just got lucky several times, and at the right times my blows were critical. If I understand correctly, if my Luck hadn¡¯t been at 25 points, then he would have already torn me into tiny pieces a long time ago ...¡±


    It seemed that the Alphiner had reached the same conclusion as I had: he stopped, raised his right paw with a sigh, and then put it to his chest.


    The leader of the Alphiner pack from the Enchanted Forest of the Celestial Fairies recognizes your strength and right to be a friend of the pack and he offers you a draw in this trial by combat.


    ¡°All praise to the creators of the game! I was beginning to think that you and I would be dancing forever.¡± I accepted the draw.


    You have completed the hidden quest: ¡°Obtaining the trust of the pack¡±. Your reputation with the Alphiner pack from the Enchanted Forest of the Celestial Fairies is now one of Trust. To reach the status of Respect you require 10 000 points.


    You are accepted as a friend of the Alphiner pack from the Enchanted Forest of the Celestial Fairies.


    You have obtained the reputation of ¡°Accepted among the Beasts¡±. There is the possibility of improvement: you can reach the same reputation with another 10 packs.


    +10% chance to meet rare species of animals.


    Your ¡°Endurance¡± has increased: +1 (16).


    Your ¡°Strength¡± has increased: +3 (14).


    Your ¡°Dexterity¡± has increased: +1 (16).


    Your ¡°Intellect¡± has increased: +4 (11).


    Your ¡°Reflexes¡± ability has increased: +3 (12).


    Your ¡°Inventiveness¡± ability has increased: +5 (6).


    After reading the messages, I collapsed down on the grass, completely exhausted, and fell asleep.

 Chapter 11: The First Step

    I woke up at night time. The whole meadow was lit by the moonlight. Apart from me, there was no one else around. Even my Totem had flown off somewhere.


    ¡°Well, unless some night time predator decides to eat me, nothing terrible will happen. I must remember that I am still a Newcomer. Despite my best efforts, I still have to look after myself even when I¡¯m asleep, because I can¡¯t really rely on my new friends! The first thing is to have a heart-to-heart talk with my Copper Winged friend as soon as I get a hold of him. The safety of my backside, among other things, is in his own selfish interests too. Plus, he is my pet. At the end of the day I need protection while I¡¯m sleeping, and until then I will only spend my nights in the trees. During my walks though the forest I haven¡¯t come across any similar meadows, not even any Fiddle mushrooms. Even a giraffe would have realized that this is an unusual place, but I''m not a giraffe,¡± I thought glumly. ¡°Even now my abilities are much improved, so perhaps I''ll find something that I didn¡¯t notice before.¡±


    I threw a dozen stones from my bag into the middle of the meadow, and I headed out to find something that would be of use. I discovered a lot of things, but, basically, nothing that would be of use to me. That¡¯s just the way life went: not everything fell into your hands just like that.


    Having already almost finished the circle, and on the edge of darkness, a name started flashing brightly over one of the bushes. I still had plenty of time upon my hands, and I was curious. I approached the bush closer and read its name: Forest Gooseberry.


    ¡°How about that! Could it be that there are real plants here as well as the invented ones?!¡±


    Tall trees with large crowns were growing all around, and the moonlight no longer illuminated the bush. I picked off one of the berries and brought it close to my eyes. It did remind me of something I had seen in the past, only it looked much shinier and I couldn¡¯t recognize the color, so I was a little bit suspicious.


    ¡°Okay, I found it, so I should try it ... It¡¯s absolutely delicious!¡± ¡° I got carried away and ate a dozen more berries.


    Forest gooseberry: A rare plant that can grow in any forest. Used in potions and cooking, and is edible raw. It is considered a delicacy all over this world. It restores 40-100 life points.


    ¡°I am definitely having these!¡± ¡° I completely stripped the poor bush of its fruits, and began a systematic search of the area for the same type of bush. Sadly, the bush was the only one around, but at least I got forty-three berries in my collection from this one.


    ¡°So, my Copper Winged friend doesn¡¯t need to worry about where his next meal is coming from, because he has his chewy berries. My next step is to find more of these bushes: firstly, they are delicious, and secondly, it is possibly something that can be sold. Once I meet people I will need money, and with these fruits, I think, I will be able to earn some cash ...¡± Then I remembered about the falcon, and an idea came to my head for some reason, so I took a dozen cuttings from the bush, on the premise that if they turned out to be of no value, then I could just dump them. But what if it turned out that they were worth some coin?


    Having finished wandering through the forest, I returned to the meadow, where I had left the stones that I had collected from the Sparkling River. The moon played across their surfaces even better than the river waters had. Their glow was soft, and smoothly changed every time the clouds floating in the sky altered the degree of light in the meadow.


    Even without really understanding what I wanted to do and why I was doing it, I took out all the stones and began to lay them out like puzzles in the meadow. At first, I was just playing with the stones on an unconscious level, looking at them in the moonlight. Then I divided them into several groups of colors. I remembered where I picked up the Moon Flower, and took them to the same place. Then my perceptions suddenly changed. My hands started to move on their own accord, basing their actions on my intuition and instructions from the Moon Flower. I felt a flow of vitality, and my mind was no longer in control but merely watched what was going on around as an interested spectator.


    ¡°It should be like this, or maybe it should be like that?¡± All my thoughts were jumping around in my mind like animals in a zoo park. Everything, starting with my intuition, and even my newly found ingenuity, gathered together to work on this project. The tension grew, and I felt like we needed to complete this task as fast as possible.


    I began to understand what was happening, but paradoxically, without my participation, a masterpiece was being created. Then somebody else joined our creative group, and for a moment it completely alienated me, and even prevented me from observation. This lasted a few seconds, after which I became an outside observer yet again. I felt that my life force was diminishing. Much more of this and I could die from exhaustion ...


    And then it was over. There was a moment of silence, and then control of my body returned to me, and the next thing I saw was...


    It was something out of this world! Exactly in the same place that my Moon Flower came to me, a mosaic of stones had been erected depicting a Moon Flower when it first came into blossom. The image was almost perfect, but even my analyst''s brain for some reason considered the project unfinished, and I knew that the world was waiting for my decision. I felt this with my whole being. Even without looking, I took seven leaves from my bag, that I had torn from my Totem¡¯s tree, and put them here and there, making the mosaic more alive. No, something was still missing - my hand took something else out of my bag without a conscious thought, and my hand put it on one of the leaves. That''s exactly the way it was at the time when I received the Moon Flower ¨C there had been a dewdrop on one of the leaves.


    The meadow shook to the sound of a hunting horn. The moon, as if just noticing what was happening in the meadow, lit it up even more vividly, while the shape that I had created started flashing in splendid colors. The seconds dragged on like minutes. The mosaic changed as if it had been given permission by the moon, and became a living stone flower, surrounded by sparkling stones. A Tear of the Forest stone was hanging from the flower like an earring.


    And then the messages poured down:


    You have created a small shrine. You have achieved the reputation of the ¡°Creator of Small Shrines¡±. This achievement makes it possible for you to study the ability of the ¡°Collector of Artifacts¡±. This achievement can be improved upon: create another 10 small shrines.


    You have created a Perfect Shrine, which has been recognized and enhanced by the Moon. In the world, there are 3 true sources of power: the two luminaries are the Moon and the Sun, and what the light does not like is the Darkness. Only a perfect creation can be enhanced by true power. Such a creation is made from ideally suitable materials. It displays a moment from the past or the future of this world, and is created in a perfect place.


    You have received the reputation of ¡°Creator¡±. This reputation can be improved upon (unavailable).


    +30% increase in the chance that a Grandmaster will agree to teach you.


    The hidden ¡°Uniqueness¡± ability has opened up to you: +1 (1).


    Do you want to devote the temple to someone or leave it free?


    ¡°It was clear what I wanted. Why on earth would I leave it to somebody when I haven¡¯t really even met anyone yet?¡±


    In front of me was a list of options. A huge list of names that meant nothing to me, but fortunately enough, Trickster¡¯s name was right at the top of the list, so naturally I chose him.


    Your ¡°Intellect¡± has increased: +3 (14).


    The Moon Flower has passed into a new stage of development, and its mana consumption has increased to 20% (mana: 140 - 28 = 112).


    Your ¡°Handy man¡± ability has increased: +10 (13).


    Your ¡°Inventiveness¡± ability has increased: +5 (11).


    ¡°You''ve done really well!¡± Trickster appeared in the meadow, sitting on a stool. My patron admired the stone flower for a couple of moments. ¡°Not how I imagined my first altar, but it''s even better than I could have hoped for.¡±


    Trickster admires your creation, and the way you have made such progress so quickly. He is sincerely grateful to you for dedicating this temple to him. Trickster¡¯s attitude towards you has improved: +1 000. At the moment: it is Good: 1 150. Reaching the level of Respect requires 3 850 points.


    ¡°You really deserve a better reward, but unfortunately, I must obey the laws of this world. So, this is the most that I can give you in appreciation for what you have done,¡± Trickster said, sighing. ¡°But I promise that I''ll find another way to thank you for such a gift!¡±


    Thanks to you, there was a small change in the world: the first divine spirit has appeared. You need to make another 48 small changes.


    You have received the reputation of ¡°Leader of the 2nd rank¡±. This reputation can be improved (unavailable). With the maximum improvement, you will receive the status of (unavailable).


    You are the first Newcomer to receive the reputation of ¡°Leader of the 2nd rank¡±. All bonuses and abilities received from God are increased: +15%.


    Their duration is increased by 25%.


    It seemed that Trickster had also read my messages:


    ¡°That was pretty good! Our first bonuses were very impressive, and well worth the effort. To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect so much from you. You haven¡¯t even left the kindergarten yet, but you have already made me a divine spirit!¡±


    As we were speaking we had been alone in the meadow, but suddenly the entire meadow was filled with Alphiners, and my Totem started flying around the flower. At the same time my Totem, thinking he was unnoticed, squinted at Trickster, and Trickster pretended not to notice being stared at. Trickster grabbed hold of one of the Alphiners and scratched it behind its ears. The pack leader looked on disapprovingly, but he didn¡¯t hurry to argue with the divine spirit that had landed in his meadow. What happened next was that four ancient Alphiners arrived in the meadow. They all had different colored coats, as if age had faded them. These were clearly the elders, and they seemed to have some decision to make.


    All the Alphiners parted, allowing the elders to pass to the shrine. The pack leader was already standing next to the flower and waited patiently for the sages to approach. As soon as they reached their destination and came up to the pack leader, a gloomy silence fell over the meadow. Nobody moved, and you could feel that all the animals were holding their breath. To my surprise, Trickster stood up and bowed to the elders, then silently sat down and started waiting in anticipation as well.


    Consumed by the moment, I was watching what was happening before my eyes. The elders went around the flower, accompanied by the pack leader, and they were discussing something in their cat like language. Then returning to the place where they had started, they first looked at me, and then, without ceasing their conversation, they turned to Trickster. Then there was a five-minute conversation. It appeared that three of the four were inclined to one decision, and the other one wasn¡¯t completely sure. The pack leader did not decide anything at all, but only answered questions. Naturally I couldn¡¯t understand the discussion, but it seemed to me that the four sages were never going to come to an agreement.


    I was sick of the absence of any progress, and I decided to admire the stars. I didn¡¯t even know for how long I was staring at them, however, just like the last time, I watched the constellations and movements of the stars. I saw how the stars were born and died. Then my intuition demanded my attention, and all my visions disappeared.


    Your ¡°Star Reading¡± ability has increased: +5 (6).


    The next thing I saw was the pack leader bowing to the sages. He proceeded to the Moon Flower shrine and put his paw on top of it. Then he mumbled something, and his meowing was echoed by every Alphiner, from the smallest ones to the largest ones.


    The council of the sages of the pack of the Alphiners of the Enchanted Forest has made a decision to become messengers of the divine spirit and assign it the reputation of guardian of the lunar meadow.


    ¡°Even in my wildest dreams I couldn¡¯t imagine that you would find me some messengers for at least another six months, and even then, I thought that you would need all of my support. But now here we are!¡± Trickster told me.


    Trickster is completely delighted with the work you have done. Trickster¡¯s attitude to you has improved: +1 000. At the moment: Good - 2 150. Reaching Respect requires - 2 850 points.


    Thanks to you, there was a small change in the world: the first divine messenger has appeared. You need to achieve another 47 small changes.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    You have obtained the reputation of ¡°Divine Coordinator¡±. You have completed the first part of a hidden quest: ¡°God¡¯s Entourage¡±. This reputation can be improved upon.


    ¡°What do I have to do with all of this?¡± There was no limit to my surprise.


    ¡°Oh, believe me you do,¡± Trickster smirked. ¡°You became a friend of the pack, created a stone flower and managed to create something perfect. That was enough to convince three of the sages to allow me to become the keeper of the meadow, which was beyond my wildest dreams. But the fourth one produced some reasonable arguments and didn¡¯t agree with the rest of them, so I had pretty much lost all hope and became reconciled to the fact that I would never have a shrine to my name. Next thing the bored pack leader looked at what you were doing. It turns out that Alphiners respect anybody that can read the stars. So, when they found out that you could also read them, it was decided that your patron should be given even better respect, and they unanimously decided to become messengers and give me the reputation of a keeper. So, my dear friend, you''re either just incredibly lucky or a total genius.¡±


    ¡°Hello, my little genius!¡± The High Fairy Tsi appeared in the meadow. ¡°How could you possibly create such a number of problems in such a short time and completely destroy the balance in the world?! You''re just a walking tornado of chaos!¡±


    ¡°What have I done? I haven¡¯t even found a pet yet.¡±


    ¡°Life would have been easier for you if you had a dozen pets,¡± Tsi sighed.


    It was clear that Trickster was enjoying himself, and he had a wide smile on his face.


    ¡°Let''s see what you''ve messed up in less than a week. Thanks to you, despite your lack of knowledge, a Moon Flower has appeared in this world, and soon there will be another two, that this world is unprepared for. Then you created a unique creature right in the middle of our forest, but this is nothing but a trifle. The Mangul Ruby Wild Boar negotiated an excellent deal to leave the Enchanted Forest. Also, you managed to pass through the cave of the Fire Termites, and managed to collect the Ruby Grain from there, which was almost impossible to accomplish. From what I could see, there was no access between the forest and the cave, but the Mangul didn¡¯t care about such intricacies, because he belongs to one of the species of Ruby Entities.¡±


    You have received hidden knowledge: in the world, there are special ¡°Ruby Entities¡±.


    You have obtained the reputation of ¡°The Discoverer of the World¡±. This reputation can be improved upon. You can find the information you require by discovering another 25 pieces of hidden knowledge. +5% chance of receiving a hidden quest.


    ¡°Well ...¡± The High Fairy sighed. ¡°I spilled some beans, but nothing special to write home about.¡±


    Trickster was trying hard not to laugh out loud.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare say a bloody word!¡± the High Fairy admonished him. ¡°You''re in no position to ruin relations with me.¡±


    To my surprise, Trickster took the Fairy¡¯s comments very seriously, and I even thought that he turned pale for a second.


    ¡°What do we have next? Ah, yes, the less significant actions of yours. Okay, you saved the last of the Copper Winged birds, but we would have saved them all anyway without your assistance. According to the laws of this world, we are forbidden to interrupt your learning process, no matter what adventure you undertake on our territory. We will discuss this later, of course, but it is unlikely that anything will change. Usually ninety percent of the learning process occurs within the meadow area and under vigilance of one of the younger fairies. However, the Copper Winged bird decided to change all of the rules of the game and even became your Totem. And if that wasn¡¯t enough, this spoilt little brat gave you the Tear of the Forest stone practically for nothing. So, let¡¯s get to the grand finale - it really was outstanding. Who on earth thought that you would be capable of this? A simply perfect creation! It wasn¡¯t merely a creation, but it was actually a shrine! Everything would have been fine if you had dedicated it to someone from the Forest or to one of the Celestial Fairies, but instead you chose to dedicate it to your patron! I understand that it was a logical decision for you to make. Let me explain, we are going to have to hold discussions in an emergency meeting of the Diadem of the Council of the Celestial Fairies, which has never been convened in living memory ... This time the Diadem will include all the High Fairies and the highest elders, including the King and Queen.¡±


    You have obtained a hidden knowledge of the composition of the Diadem of the Fairies. There are 24 items of hidden knowledge¡¯s left to you to improve your reputation of ¡°Discoverer of the World¡±.


    The High Fairy sighed and dismissed the interruption.


    ¡°As a result of your actions, our laws have changed. It has been decided that when creating a shrine or another holy place in the land of the fairies, only the name of one of the twelve High Fairies can be chosen.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask a question?¡± I interrupted the stream of comments coming from the High Fairy.


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± the Fairy sighed.


    ¡°Did I ask to choose the name of my own patron? As far as I can understand, the creators of the game would be less than happy with the performance of the High Fairies!¡±


    Tsi¡¯s face turned pale, like chalk, and even her wings became discolored.


    ¡°Sit here, and don¡¯t even dare to move!¡± After shouting this, the fairy disappeared.


    You have received the hidden legendary reputation of ¡°Seeker of the Truth¡±. You managed to see what the entire counsel of the Diadem of the High Council of Fairies didn¡¯t manage to see. To see what is hidden from the attentions of the elite in this world is a talent. But this talent is nothing without training. Improved (unavailable), bonuses (unavailable), and the ability to learn (unavailable).


    The Fairy returned close to dawn. The color of her wings was back to normal, and she was quite calm.


    ¡°Forgive me for making you wait,¡± she began and turned to me. ¡°Dee, I must thank you on behalf of Diadem of Fairies. You cannot even imagine what you have done for us! Sadly, but with all of our gratitude, I must tell you your time of training with us is now at an end.¡±


    ¡°But the nine days haven¡¯t finished yet!¡± I was surprised.


    ¡°Yes, I know, but the situation is that the rest of the elite council thinks that you already have a huge advantage over all the other Newcomers who came in, and at such a speed you could become unbeatable in nine days. You have done nothing to be blamed for; on the contrary, the fault is ours. You will have to leave the Enchanted Forest and go out into the world ahead of time. But we feel guilty. Therefore, I am authorized to give you some gifts ¡­¡± Three spheres appeared before the High Fairy. The first sphere vanished before my eyes and was replaced by a thick old folio. The fairy continued, ¡°This is a fairy tutorial and it is given during training to every young fairy. We couldn¡¯t teach you basic knowledge, and it''s our implicit duty to give it to you. The world will not forgive us, if you do not receive this knowledge from us.¡±


    The book landed in my hands, and disappeared into thin air.


    ¡°Now the book will be with you for all time. Whenever you want to read it, just think about it, and it will appear in your hands.¡±


    I thought about the book, and it really did appear in my hands.


    ¡°When you finish reading, just make a mental note and it will disappear.¡±


    I did so, and the book was gone in an instant.


    ¡°You''ll like the second gift,¡± the Fairy smiled.


    The second sphere wafted away, and a tiny sky-blue velvet purse appeared in its place. The Fairy waved her wand and the purse appeared in my hands, and then it flared up and disappeared before my eyes.


    You have received a Celestial Purse. This item has replaced your carry bag. It has an infinite capacity, and once an item is placed in the purse, Its weight will be absolutely nil. The first 3 compartments are invisible to anyone except you. The contents of the next seven compartments are only visible to the Gods and Higher Beings. It is impossible for the contents of the first ten compartments to be lost or stolen.


    ¡°What a fantastic gift!¡± I immediately put the ruby grain into the first compartment.


    ¡°You can reorganize your stuff later, but now it¡¯s time to give you the third gift. I could say that you would have reached this achievement without our help, but we decided to speed up the process, because it is hard to survive in this world without magic.¡±


    The last sphere dissolved into thin air. A fifty-centimeter diameter ball of ocher suddenly appeared in my hands. The impression that I got was that the ball was a living entity, but as soon as I took a closer look at it, it seemed as if it had penetrated through my hands, as if it was aware of my intense gaze. My hands were illuminated for a second and then went back to a normal color.


    You have received the passive ability of ¡°Unity with Nature¡±. Now you have a deeper understanding of plants and animals.


    You have received the ¡°Wild Magic¡± ability: 1% (beginner level). You can study and use wild magic. A beginner can only use this magic in the wilderness.


    ¡°So, this talent uses the nature around you to enhance your spells. Dee, you will gradually understand everything, but there is something else to consider. A wild magician can create spells as and when he needs to, using the ingredients surrounding him. Shall I show you how this is done? You still have some Fiddle mushrooms, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do, but how did you know that?¡± I was surprised.


    ¡°Before you entered the cave, we were watching over you in case you needed our help.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I muttered. I felt a little insulted that I hadn¡¯t a clue that I was being followed. I seriously needed to improve my level of ¡°Attentiveness¡±.


    ¡°Anyway, take four of your mushrooms,¡± the High Fairy continued with her instructions. ¡°Now place them in all four corners of the world, but they must be at least one hundred meters away from you.¡±


    I spread the mushrooms out as I had been told.


    ¡°Now stand in the middle of them all and close your eyes. Try to locate the mushrooms using your mind.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy enough for you to say, but how in the hell am I supposed to locate something using only my mind¡±! I thought to myself.


    I had no idea how long I had been attempting to do this, but at some point I mentally connected with the mushroom in the most southern position.


    This gave me confidence that my goal was achievable.


    After that I began to systematically look for the mushroom in the north, and after some time I found it as well. Then things went more smoothly, and I quickly found the two remaining mushrooms.


    ¡°That was outstanding,¡± the High Fairy said. It appeared to me that she knew exactly where I should have been searching, and most importantly, when and where I found it. ¡°Now find inside yourself a source of mana and draw four threads from it, one for each mushroom.¡±


    This task took me much longer to complete. That wasn¡¯t strictly accurate. I found the source quickly, but connecting each thread to the fungus was one hell of a job! No quicker did I connect a thread to one mushroom, but the other threads snapped away, so I just had to keep going. I had no idea how long this took me, and certainly I didn¡¯t understand how Trickster and the Fairy didn¡¯t kill me for my slowness.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± the fairy said, as if nothing had happened. ¡°And now connect all the mushrooms with a line of magic in a circle.¡±


    Oddly enough, I was able to do it quickly and without any difficulty.


    ¡°Fantastic!¡± The Fairy was overjoyed. ¡°Now the next thing that you need to do is to energize all the lines until you feel that they have enough power.¡±


    I slowly began to pour in my energy. Nothing terrible happened, but I was running out of patience, so I simply poured out all the energy available to me in one shot.


    The Moon Flower jerked in offence, but it quickly calmed down.


    Congratulations. You have created an ¡°Audible Protection¡± spell. This will cost you 110 mana. It will work for 8 hours. Any creature that crosses the magic line between the mushrooms will be stunned for 30 seconds. All creatures at a distance of 10 meters from the audible protection spell guard will be stunned for 15 seconds. The spell can be made more powerful.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have poured all of your mana out,¡± the Fairy sighed. ¡°It turned out to be a very powerful spell, but I suggest that it would have been better to start with something that didn¡¯t cost you so much, and to develop and modify it later on.¡±


    ¡°Well, what is done is done, and I can¡¯t change history. So, can I...¡±


    I was interrupted by a new message:


    A beginner wild magician can independently develop only 3 spells. You have created an ¡°Audible Protection¡± spell. Once reaching a reputation of ¡°Capable¡±, you will be able to create two more spells.


    ¡°Tsi!¡± I cried out. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that I could only create a limited number of spells? Why would I waste my time on this spell? I can sleep in the trees for the time being.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The High Fairy was embarrassed, ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking. It just seemed like a good idea for you to use the materials that you already have with you. If I understand correctly, you need an attacking and a protective spell. Am I right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true,¡± I agreed with her and had already calmed down.


    ¡°Do you prefer close protection or protection from distant threats?¡±


    ¡°Is it possible to do both?¡± I asked, thinking to myself, why not get as much as I could out of this conversation, so I smiled at the Fairy.


    ¡°You are a total rascal, aren¡¯t you?¡± The fairy sighed. ¡°Okay, let me see what I can do.¡±


    She walked over and put her hands on my forehead. A vision arose before me: I was holding a bunch of branches in my hands and pouring energy into them in a particular way. The pattern that connected the branches was very intricate, but I still knew exactly why each part of the pattern was needed, and how to create and activate it. As soon as I had finished what I was doing, I found myself surrounded by a small swirling typhoon of branches. I felt that I could manipulate this typhoon up until within a meter around me, and control its intensity. Then the vision was gone.


    You''ve learned the ¡°Wild Protection¡± spell. The cost to you is 50 mana and 3 mana for every second that you use it. It will absorb 50% of potential damage, until it reaches a level of 500 points of damage. It prevents an opponent from making a good target of you. It is possible to improve this ability.


    This was an excellent spell, but a little too expensive for my life force at the moment. However, it could come in handy as a last resort. At that point I just needed to always have stocks of branches at hand, so it was a good thing that the size of the compartments of my new carry bag were limitless.


    ¡°As I promised, I will teach you how to fight an opponent, but it will be my choice this time!¡±


    The Fairy laid her hands on my forehead again. I had another vision. This time I had a heap of leaves in my hands. I threw them up in the air, and as they flew I connected them with a thread of magic, weaving an intricate pattern. My body became filled with power, and a deluge of sharp leaves descended upon my invisible opponent.


    You have learned the ¡°Falling Leaves¡± spell. Cost: 30 mana. It inflicts damage on the area that it falls upon, and each leaf that strikes inflicts 10-90 points of damage. Different leaves have different damaging effects. The spell can be improved.


    ¡°These are all the gifts I have to offer. You have already received more than you deserve. Say good-bye to each other, you have ten minutes.¡± She turned to Trickster: ¡°You and I will talk later.¡±


    Then the High Fairy melted into the air again.


    ¡°Listen to me carefully!¡± The newly created divine spirit rattled out. ¡°I will stay here for a while, but unfortunately, I can¡¯t offer you any more assistance. Sadly enough, I won¡¯t be able to give you any support, and this is very bad, because you are already so well known that you are going to be hunted down. Try not to make yourself obvious. You are now alone in this world and you are the number one target for the hunters. Try to become as strong as possible. The most important thing that you can do is to develop the abilities and skills that you already have. I can see that you already have a great selection of those under your belt.... Oh yeah! Change your name. Dee is now a household name. Also, be sure to find yourself a pet, because your Totem isn¡¯t fit for the job.¡±


    ¡°I wanted an Alphiner!¡± I was indignant. ¡°And I really was trying to adopt one.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± A mischievous smile appeared on Trickster''s face. ¡°Sadly, I can¡¯t allow you to have a messenger as a pet, so you need to look for something else. I''m sure you''ll find something even better, and with your ability to get where you are not supposed to be, plus your good luck, you are a worthy son of fortune, so I have no doubt that you will get by just fine.¡±


    Your time has expired.


    ¡°See you again soon, Dee.¡±


    The Fairy waved her hand, and I found myself in a forest that I had never seen before. It was certainly not an enchanted forest. Pines of brown, green, and red and many more different flowers grew all around me, but only the pines stood out. My Copper Winged friend landed next to me.


    ¡°Well, at least you are still with me,¡± I smiled.


    The Copper Winged bird rubbed his head against my trouser leg in a gesture of support that I had now gotten used to.


    ¡°Okay. Let''s get moving.¡±