CHAPTER 2 - PART III

I awake energised, but a little damp.

I’d dried myself off after the bath, but must have been sweating a bit while I slept. My forehead and cheeks clammy.

It feels like I forgot something important.

Maybe something from my dreams?

Sitting and forcing myself to remember yields only fragmented images and sensations.

Someone stroking my hair, the warmth of sunlight amplified through glass, a stifling heat…

I assume I drifted off during the car ride and Mom got a bit maternal. She’d never do something sentimental like that with me while I was awake… but, it didn’t bother me in the dream. It didn’t feel as though I was being treated like a kid, it was just kind. Comforting.

Guess my brain is finally processing what happened a few days behind. Better late than never.

Hopefully it’ll fill in the blanks and I’ll be able to remember how I got here. Then I can work out how to get back.

Usually I can’t remember my dreams, my brain too foggy from staying up late, mornings a frustrating blur.

Waking without an alarm, after a lot of physical activity and a relaxing bath, to the natural rhythm of the day… honestly, it clears your head.

I’m not groggy or lethargic like I would normally be. Even with all the emotional stress and the beat down.

I was up a little late last night, but not as much as I might normally be during summer. Trying to milk every last second out of my time online. The first and last moment of every day on my phone or PC.

I’m a couple of days into the country life, missing a major event I’ve spent weeks saving gems and materials for, and I sound like I was born to this. Only slightly bothered the guild will be a man short for any raids.

I chuckle to myself as I sit on the side of the bed, standing stark naked, and snatching the bedding up to cover my shame again.

I forgot about that.

How could I forget about that?

It’s not just the countryside though, is it?

It’s not even Earth!

It’s less upsetting a thought than it has been.

I may not be the hero, there may not be a HUD or skill tree open to me, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be either. I might still be in the tutorial, I might need to work out the controls more, like getting the interface gesture right.

While I wander down to the back garden to check on my clothes, I make a bunch of different hand, arm, and head movements to try to work out if something works as a motion control.

Something should swipe open a menu if I keep experimenting.

Maybe, if I squint or get some refracted light, I can find an out of place pixel or whatever.

There could be an icon on the edge of my vision, a watermark I’m just not seeing yet…

Not a single expression seems to work, but I’m reminded of that scene in an old superhero movie where he keeps trying to activate his powers, and eventually rock and roll devil horns does the trick.

I bust out the bull horns as I as I step down into the garden.

They don’t work.

I do a little shadow puppet show of all the animals I can remember.

Not even looking through the wolf’s eye does it.

I try some ninjutsu configurations from various shows.

Nothing.

I’ll just have to keep trying and eventually something might be the right activation key.

Maybe I’ll get to be a friendly neighbourhood hero too?

Still laughing to myself, I find my clothes dry and aired on the makeshift tripod. Ashes in greyscale smeared across the flags and flittering about the yard on a light breeze.

I pull everything on quickly and put the bedding over the stand to air in the sun while I’m out today.

Milk force pose!

Nope.

…

Still don’t have a plan.

It’s some time before noon, maybe around 9 or 10AM?

Even if I put a stick in the ground in an open area that gets light all day, I wouldn’t know where to place the digits on a sundial. I mean, I guess if I put 12 in the middle and estimate 5AM and 7PM for sunrise and sunset, I could just put the rest of the hours in at equal spaces, but even then it’d be too rough to be worth it.

It’s not like I’ll be sat around in the same spot all day too, especially if we go on a quest.

We…

I smile to myself at having the beastgirl in my party.

One day in town and I already have a companion!

One day in town and I already have 2.5 enemies…

The goblin doesn’t count as a full opponent. I’m pretty average, and it’s only about half my height.

I hope it was the right call leaving the her with them overnight. What if she’s been locked up and I can’t make contact with her today?

They better not have done anything to her!

I feel a heat rise in my chest and my muscles tense up.

After being over used from running away all of yesterday, my fight or flight response seems to have picked a different tack today.

Bolstered by my righteous anger to defend my party member from unreasonable treatment, I start running mental drills on how I could take the beastman or orc.

They’re the threats.

I need to keep my distance though.

I should lure them into an area where I’ll have the advantage.

Maybe an ambush would work?

The orc is still probably too much for me. He’s well over 6.5ft and jacked.

The beastman will have to be dealt with first.

He’s only a bit taller than me and I’d guess not much heavier. Even if he is still lean and a bit ripped.

I mean, I’m not doughy by any means. I’m just not athletic either. I used to be as a kid, but I think everyone grows out of sports if they’re not some star jock type. Their natural talent and enthusiasm being nurtured every step of the way.

Hmm…

I’ll have to separate them.

Fighting two on one, or even with the beastgirl, wouldn’t be wise when they’re obviously stronger and more experienced. And, having the goblin biting at our heels and making a lot of noise would slow us down and draw attention.

Still… I don’t know the area, so I’ll be relying on the beastgirl to pick a spot to attack from.

I need to bring something to the plate myself though.

What can I offer?

…

Equipment!

That’s what I need.

Something to level the playing field while I’m still training.

A weapon and some basic armour to increase our attack and defence stats.

If I can beat one of them I can probably get enough XP to level-up. You only ever need to take on one or two weak enemies at your first level to gain experience, and they seem tough for basic mobs. Probably special named variants that’ll give a bonus too.

That might be what the system is waiting for before it kicks in.

Complete the opening event, defeat your first enemy, something like that should trigger access to the skill management system and menu.

It could all be wishful thinking too.

Either way, still seems best to go back into town armed with something.

They might call the town guards if I rock up with the big woodcutting axe.

I didn’t see anything like guards yesterday while trying to find a guild hall or tavern. They’ll likely only have a volunteer militia, maybe a few adventurers working as mercenaries, or retired wounded veterans stationed out here in a mountain village.

Guess they’d have to request support from the monster version of the local ruler’s garrison… so I could be facing down a demonlord’s soldiers?!.

I gulp at the thought of being bulldozed by some dreadknights on my second day for picking the wrong equipment.

Gotta go with something concealable and/or able to be passed off as a tool rather than a weapon.

Even if things do go south, the fact there aren’t any guards stationed here means we should have some time to escape at least. It’s not like they can just phone some boss monster up and get him to port a few high level subordinates out here to hunt me down.

It’ll take some time to get to the castle or fort or whatever, be granted an audience, have them agree to help, then make their way back uphill.

They’d likely search out the house in only a few hours though. It’s not exactly a hidden base, so we’d have to have everything in place to move on before then.

Right, so whatever I take has to be small and inconspicuous.

If I can find a couple of things, I could equip the beast girl too!

I don’t remember seeing any starter equipment around the house, but I wasn’t specifically searching either.

I take a quick whip round and, unsurprisingly, don’t find any weapons or armour, but I do make a mental list of anything that could be used as improvised equipment.

There’s a couple of kitchen knives in the house, and the woodcutter’s axe - even though it’s out of the question - a hatchet, a saw, and a sickle in the sheds.

There’s a pitch fork, and a bunch of miscellaneous wood working and gardening tools too, but none of them seem practical.

In terms of armour, there’s nothing.

Leather would suck in the summer heat; full plate more so with the weight AND conductivity.

Chain mail would have been breathable at least, but no such luck. I don’t even find a buckler or shield either.

Not like I’d even strong enough to wear full metal armour anyway. It’d drain stamina and leave me exhausted in no time.

There’s a cast iron skillet and a metal pot lid - worst item in the gacha pool - that could be used as makeshift armour, but I feel like they’d stand out too much and be really cumbersome.

I remember reading about medieval warfare as a kid, Dad encouraged it of course, and it would take knights years of dedicated practice to master fighting with a sword and a shield. Shields were only given out as equipment so much because it gave peasants cheap protection, then they’d have to supply a farming tool from home as a weapon.

I guess that means I’m going with gardening equipment.

Shouldn’t be too obvious considering this seems mostly to be a farming community. Might even help with securing work as a field hand if I come equipped.

As much as I’d feel more secure with something bigger, the two handed axe is way too much. There’s always that wind up delay on making heavy swings anyway.

If I’m going to have to rely on a sneak attack, I need fast manoeuvrable equipment.

The knives are obviously useful, but they’re not hunting ones, so they’ll look a bit threatening or weird tucked in a belt or boot.

That leaves the sickle, handsaw, and hatchet.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone, even my grandparents, use a hand scythe, so I only have a hypothetical grasp on how they work.

As cool as it might be to have some dark figure loom out of the shadows and use one to slit their target’s throat, I am not a trained assassin.

I suppose it could still be used for stabbing, but it really seems like a clumsy and awkward thing to use.

Same with the saw, though I could bring it with anyway so it’s there as an option for work, but I don’t want to be over encumbered when I’ll be traipsing around all day trying find jobs. It might not even be needed for the work I do get, they could have tools available already, and then there’s less inventory space for carrying previsions…

Yeah, I'm overthinking it. The hand axe it is then.

Reliable little one handed weapon that has a variety of uses. Cannot go wrong.

I’d still like to take something for the beastgirl, so I pick out the smaller knife. Easier for concealment.

After trying and failing to find a comfortable, practical, and safe way to carry our weapons into town, I decide to turn the dirty blanket I used to dry myself with into a sling bag.

It works pretty well in a far too long and uneven kind of way, but it looks like a sort of hobo bundle and obscures the shape of our equipment.

Realizing I’ve let the morning start to slip away a bit, I grab the flint and steel tin - just in case - and chop the bar of soap in half, placing the larger bit in the pack too.

I wanna return some before anyone notices it missing, I shouldn’t need the whole thing just now anyway, so hopefully it’ll help avoid undue conflict.

I chug the last of the water from the kettle I boiled a day and a half ago. At least it should still be more sterile than drinking straight out the well.

There’s not much left, just a couple of mouthfuls, but it’s better than nothing.

I didn’t hydrate at dinner and it’ll be hot again soon, so every last drop is necessary.

Maybe I can find a canteen in town?

Having something to transport drinkable water about in would be a god send.

Making sure everything is securely tucked away in the pack, I head out into the late morning sun.

That’s makes it, what? My third or fourth day in another world?

I do a kinda silent whistle to myself at how long a time that actually is, but how short it has felt.

I guess when you’ve been fatigued and napping a lot of the time, or anxious and on edge, you’re not really aware of time passing.

The walk into town is plagued by more midges than the previous day, more heat as well.

That’s what happens when you set off later.

It’s a difficult pace to set. Wanting both to get the trek over with quickly, so as to acquire more water and sit in some shade sooner, while also trying to avoid too much exertion, and the sweat and discomfort it brings.

Time to start complaining about the summer again, like the old man I have somehow become in less than a week.

Other than being a curmudgeon about it, the walk into town passes uneventful.