I wake up the next morning after trying to do business all day, but night fell before I could leave and I was denied egress from Marcrest by the city watch. A tiny goat nuzzles into me with its short horns and I cuddle the poor kid. I wonder where his mother is? I rented a stable at the inn, which they only accepted since I’m associated with the healing house as of late. This prejudice is inconvenient. Can’t I just run quests and make this whole situation less painful?

  On that note, shouldn’t I have gotten some XP from the wolf that I got crushed?

  Drat, you asked earlier than I thought you would.

  I hear Alaris titter in my mind.

  I was trying to avoid you treating this experience as a game, as you have the option of living a full life here. If you treat it too much like a game, it may adversely affect your ability to fully integrate.

  Alaris, I would otherwise be living in ATC London where I can have take-out and online shopping delivered instantaneously and most technology can be controlled with just my brain. Having a few menus codify my skills and abilities is not going to make it feel less real than the ATC.

  I get a pleased feeling across whatever connection we have, but no words. I’m starting to get the idea that half of our exchanges will be ghosts of intent and emotion like this.

  To my blinking messages!

  

  /bonus experience is awarded for killing an enemy more than five levels above you.

  /bonus experience is awarded for killing an enemy without a martial skill.

  

  /innate experience and execution confers beginner 7.

  

  /Innate experience and execution confers novice 2.

  

  /Innate experience and execution confers beginner 3

  

  /Innate experience and execution confers beginner 2

  

  /Mental resilience increased.

  /Reality Stability increased.

  /Dissonance event recorded.

  /Reality anchor placed.

  /Trans-world encoding commencing.

  Alaris, a little help with the historical prompts?

  You originally had other advantages, but the beta team wanted you to start from scratch like the rest. I emphasized certain portions of your memory, bringing focus to certain actions in the scene I sent you, so that you could re-acquire some useful skills.

  I feel as though you’re hiding a level up from me though? A level one killing a level seven, and a handful of skill acquisitions? Silence. Maybe she’s annoyed at me for asking pointed questions about the game experience when I should worry more about the life experience. Which is likely also tied to some maneuver she’s working on that she can’t tell me about. Our last meeting with Arthur was proof enough that she has a few irons in the fire.

  I look at the little goat that is snuggling up against me as I pet it. “Sorry little buddy, it’s time for me to get back to the Healing House.” He protests as I move him, and even tries to follow me, but I shut the stable door and grab the cart I parked in the barn and walk my way out of town.

  The walk back is about an hour with the cart, giving me some time to think about what I want to do with myself here. I obviously need to do something, but do I just start using my engineering knowledge to build stuff? I’d have to learn blacksmithing or woodworking to do any of it. I’ve always been interested in fantasy chemistry, or alchemy, because making potions sounds cool, but would I have to learn how to make the containers as well? I suppose I should have a look out for what’s available in town for ingredients and crafting support the next time I’m in town. Maybe if I can make a few potions that help out around the Healing House, Maude will get off my case.

  “You buy so much that it took you an extra day?”

  “You sent me to a town I’ve never been to before. The guards wouldn’t let me out near dusk.” I shrug and start unloading items into the store room. It takes me a while, as I am still not super sturdy, and Maude glares at me through the whole operation.

  “Look, I’m grateful for all of your help, but if you want me to leave you should say so. Snarling at me is not making either of us feel very good.”

  “I want you to leave, but Gertie thinks you still need our help. I keep hoping you’ll leave on your own.”

  If there was a way to guarantee I stay as long as possible, that was it. I’m not sure how healthy it is to be motivated by spite, but it’s powerful for me.

  Spite toward Maude and a want to help Gertie power me through my day to day of cleaning up after patients and doing prep work for the tonics and tinctures that are made here to treat said patients. In my free time, I start tinkering with spare materials and some crude woodworking from fallen wood in the nearby forest to make crude weapons and see if I can’t develop my ‘Improvised Weapons’ skill into a weapon-making skill.

  My interactions with Maude gradually become less hostile as the days pass and more resigned task mistress. She occasionally corrects me on the proper way to do something, but otherwise leaves me be. It suits me just fine as she was finding busy work to exhaust me when I began.

  Gertie routinely asks after my projects and what I’d like to be doing if I weren’t helping at the healing house. Truth be told, I don’t know, so there wasn’t much to tell her. The idea of this world’s alchemy is intriguing so I told her that I would like to keep learning from her and the other medicine preparers.

  At the end of the first full work week with Gertie in the medicine shop, I see a pair of messages that make me smile.

  

  /skill conveyed: Beginner 1

  

  /skill conveyed: Beginner 1

  I hug Gertie when I see them and she pats me on the head and congratulates me on my dedication. She doesn’t let me make any recipes myself and she laughs at my frustration, promising me that I’ll get there in time. I restrain myself from having a minor tantrum, barely, but the indignation followed me out to my tinkering tasks and basically de-railed my efforts. I got a lot of practice with my atlatl that afternoon and swore at a few squirrels.

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  Despite my regular practice, I don’t get a projectile weapon skill. I clearly don’t understand Alaris’ crafting mechanics, but at the same time she could be actively punishing me for trying to treat this like an MMO. Too bad my bestie doesn’t realize that living in an MMO feels like a dream of mine. I wait for a mind reading response or some whisper that she’s got a comment on my musing but do dice.

  Another morning dawns and finds me jumpy. Maude and Gertie don’t have a lot for me, soooooo perhaps it is time for me to get revenge on those wolf bastards. Armed with a few and a new discovery of a --a variant of a reloadable crossbow—I might be ready to face off with a couple of wolves. If only I had a level gauge to tell me how well I can scrap.

  I feel a frustrated grumble in my mind.

  

  

  

  Alaris, are you predicting that I’m about to get my butt handed to me? No matter, I’m going to use this to my advantage and to my life preservation. Five points spent in both intelligence and agility, so many of those fifteen points are going in strength and constitution as a matter of survival. Let’s take a look:

  Yeah, definitely six points in strength and endurance with one point in int, ag, and wis to round things out. I get the feeling that Alaris doesn’t venture too far from the bounds of classic MMOs on what each stat is responsible for, so . . . strength and end are going to help me in the fights with manual weapons. Clearly, though, I should be a ranged weapon or a spell specialist, though I have no mana to speak of.

  As much as I discourage you from game mechanics, restricting you further will endanger you.

  Alaris!! Thank you for realizing that. I want to explore and learn and . . . all of the things! Right now though, I have some wolves to end.

  I’m feeling sure and daring with my new levels and a sense of accomplishment, so I go looking for trouble.

  Figuring I could find trouble and my spawn point at the same time, I follow the trail until I see a cart turnoff about half a mile from the Healing House.

  [You have gained the –Tracking—skill]

  Sweet, now this might actually go well, instead of having ‘disaster’ tattooed on it. Following the marks of a dragged humanoid is not difficult and I find a familiar log about an hour into my journey.

  Periodically my eyes divert to items I’ve learned about, specifically mosses and herbs, so I collect what I can and keep venturing toward what might have been my spawn point. The scrambling trail takes me to the edge of a small cave entrance, which I can only assume is a wolf den. ‘Thanks Riz, ‘preciate you hon.’

  I’m fond of our interactions, but that shortened moniker is not ‘it’.

  ‘Oh, it’s on. I will start the most bodacious church to worship Riz the most Righteous. It will be, like totally, the most excellent religion where we will be most excellent to each other.’

  Alaris doesn’t respond to my bait, but I giggle at my references. Alaris does not seem amused as I see glowing eyes and snarling teeth emerge from the cave.

  “Fuck me sideways.” I grab the second repeater from my hip and fire at the space between the glowing eyes. A yelp and a wail pierce the darkness. I sit down and slap the foot hooks over my surprisingly grippy toes and hike back on the rope that launches the bolts, and when the rope hits the catch, a new bolt pushes up. I designed repeaters, praise Alaris.

  In a full seated position I turret the hell out of these bullshit wolves in their bullshit cave, where I spawned outside of because of a sassy-damned AI decided it would be best for me. She was right, of course, but damned if alone and afraid didn’t scare me a little.

  The first bolt repeater jammed just a few bolts before the last one and at least one wolf was still standing. Alright future handbag, let us dance. I pull out the dirk from my satchel, force myself to stand on shaky knees and brace for a fight. And the fight, she swiftly comes.

  A bark comes from behind me and leftward. Effing GD raptor gambit from Jurassic Park. ‘Clever Girl’ indeed. I was determined to be focused on the cave-wolf, but I am unnerved by the bark behind me and how close the feet sound. In my moment of distraction the one in the cave rushes me. Knowing I can’t run for shit, I crouch, ready for a fall to launch the cave-dweller in the direction of its barking brother.

  The one behind me makes just enough noise to position my reverse-gripped dirk. The wolf clamps around my forearm and the dirk saves me from the complete bite of a Saber Wolf, but the damage is still substantial. Alerts are flashing, pink text abounds, but reading might kill me.

  I rotate my body to accommodate the wolf attached to me, jabbing the field knife under its jaws while I roll back under its momentum. The cave wolf crashes into the other wolf holding my arm and we tangle together in limbs and fur and swearing. I exercise some unarmed combat elbows, the Saber wolves get their effing long ass teeth. You know what?! I have fucking tusks. Turnabout you hairy barking a-holes. I jut my lower jaw forward and bite the shit out of the spine in front of me.

  [Your racial is now active. Your –Focus—ability has activated -Eye of the Storm-]

  The barking wolf pulls away from the field knife in my right hand, giving me time to execute the wolf in my mouth with the dirk on my forearm with a sharp stab to the base of its skull. Reluctant to let the last wolf get away, I fling my field knife at the wolf and scamper after it. It seems surprised that the knife landed in its flank, but it made me think that it would be slow enough for me to catch it now.

  I shuffle back to Old Jeb’s cart with my kills tied to my pack as my forearm crutches help me carry the weight.

  [Your skill in –Piercing weapons—has increased!]

  [You have discovered –Dual Weilding—and the style -Defensive Dual Weilding-]

  [You have killed a Saber Wolf Alpha]

  [Your skill in --Unarmed Combat—has increased]

  [You have killed a Saber Wolf]

  [You have advanced to level 6! Agility and intellect have increased!]

  [Your diligence in –Manual Labor—has increased your Strength and Constitution by 1!]

  [Your skill in –Skinning—has increased!]

  It seems that my specialization when I work applies my free points for me? I’m not sure how I feel about . . . oh, it’s not taking up my free points, I’m just getting stronger? I, well I don’t know how I feel about that.

  It’s a bonus that has diminished returns as your activities promote your physique to a cultural average.

  What’s a Sky Troll’s average Alaris? I get no response or a whisper of intent. Damn flighty AI hotttie. Hmm, that reminds me, I have no idea what Alaris looks like in this world. Maybe if I perform well for my potential girlfriend, then I can get some hints? Ugh, no response. What’s worse is that I can’t press Maddi as they are supposedly different people. Gods, as much as I hate how desperate I feel, I really just want a person to snuggle and maybe cook for? Oh goddess, my goddess, please enable cuddle bunnies. Please and thank you.

  I smile and snicker as I haul my kills onto the cart and hike them toward the Healing house. Just past the stream’s effluent to the area, I start cleaning the wolves and skinning them. My new advancements in skinning helps the quality stay reasonable, knowing that the leatherworker in town will only take low quality as a minimum. At this point, it’s hard for me to get medium quality, but I do get there and I know that the reward is much higher.

  The cook at the healing house takes two of the bodies for meat and tells me to salt and pack the remaining. He’s stopped side eying me now that I seem to be able to the job that he showed me and I feel some pride at that. He still stares into my eyes before he lets me in the kitchen, but that’s just because no one trusts trolls completely in this area. I want to head to town ang get my skins sold, but it’s getting too late for me to get back before dark. I guess I spent more time looking for and fighting the wolves than I thought. I’ll have to go back and clear them out once I get used to the janky weapons I’ve made. Or, you know, make enough money to buy a decent weapon.