6 Compelled Hospitality

Gerard walked on in the opposite direction that the archer fled to. The buildings in the area consisted of wood, stone, or a mix of both. Gerard passed by an alley, and the glint of something metal caught his eyes. He stepped back to peek down the alley, and in the distance, a skeletal corpse covered in armour rested against the alley wall. A large axe lay at the ground by its hand. As Gerard approached, the corpse tensed its limbs, and with the rattling of its bones, it stood up.

The skeleton charged at Gerard. With a couple of quick back-steps, he escaped the narrow confines of the alley before it could run him down.

In the courtyard before the alley, the skeleton stared him down. Not that it had any eyes to do so. It lifted its axe, and Gerard quickly looked at the armour it was wearing.

"That warrior's armour may not have fit, but I'll be trying yours."

The skeleton slowly cleaved its axe downward, aiming to split Gerard in two. Its skeletal body struggled to use the heavy weapon effectively. With a slight shift in position, the skeleton missed, and the axe wedged itself in the ground.

Gerard darted forward.

"My weakness as a skeleton was damage from blunt weapons."

A small stone cylinder lay on the ground by the skeleton. Gerard grabbed the cylinder as he ran, readied it like a bat, and, before the skeleton could pry the axe from the ground, he smashed it over the skeleton's head.

The skeleton fell to the ground.

"That's that."

[You've gained 75 experience.]

Gerard tried on the mixture of leather and iron armour from the skeleton. Although rusted and falling apart, he wore leather boots, a leather-covered iron chest plate, and a set of iron vambraces, greaves, and cuisses.

Gerard lifted the enormous axe and swung it around several times before sitting it back on the ground.

"Nope. It doesn't feel right."

In the past, Gerard tried kendo and traditional medieval swordplay. In the end, he preferred using a two-handed mace. Finding a weapon like that seemed unlikely, as even the people he trained with in his old life never used one.

Gerard walked on. At the edge of the alley, he stepped into the street and screamed in agony.

The sun set his skin on fire the moment the light touched him. He patted his skin until the flames went out.

"Sprite. HP?"

[HP: 67]

"From just that bit of sun? Weakness to sunlight? If I'm not careful, sunlight on its own will end me."

His skin blistered instantly and was hot to the touch.

Gerard spent hours weaving around the ruined buildings to stay out of the sun's deadly path until the ruined buildings ended.

Just past the city, Gerard saw the sprawling hillside. A hooded, robe-wearing skeleton stood in his way.

"No armour? No weapon? Easy."

The skeleton reached out an arm. A ball of fire appeared and flew forward, singeing Gerard's new hair.

"Really?! My hair?!"

Gerard leapt forward and grabbed the skeleton's already cracked skull. He pulled it down and brought up his knee, shattering bone. The skeleton hit the ground, remaining motionless. The robe covering its body shimmered slightly.

"Magic?"

Gerard pulled the cloak over his armour, and a power of some sort washed over him.

"Sprite?"

[This is a cloak of clarity. It allows one to keep a clear mind. For most spell casters, it allows them to cast spells without being disrupted by the world, but for you, it may lessen the loss of control from blood frenzy.]

"What a find! It's a shame I didn't find a weapon, but that will come later."

Gerard reached his arm out into the light of the sun. It seared his flesh as it did before.

After patting the flames out, Gerard sat inside a building to wait for dusk.

Gerard waited calmly through the afternoon and evening until the sun descended below the horizon. Because of the effects of the cloak, he found the peace within this world relaxing. 

"That should do it." He got to his feet and stepped outside.

The light of the moon had no effect.

"So, I'm in a new world as an undead, where they are inherently evil and hunted for being so. There are skills, gods, magic, monsters, and humans, and that god gifted me with abilities that no monster should have. I need allies, people who can protect me when I cannot protect myself. A weapon that compliments my fighting style will become necessary, and I need to survive so I can give that god a swift kick to the side of the head."

Gerard set out to the hills and whatever world lay beyond.

---

Torchlight shone in the distance. Gerard made out the rough shadow of a wall. As he approached, he saw two men illuminated by the torchlight standing guard.

"Who goes there?" a guard stepped forward, holding his spear towards the darkness shakily.

*Still no suitable weapon...*

"Easy, friend. I'm just a traveller, a little lost, it seems." Gerard stepped out of the shadows.

"An adventurer?"

*Adventurer? That's probably what those humans were.*

"No, just a traveller looking for a place to rest."

"Sorry, but we can't let you in. A lot of bandit activity lately."

"Davik, tell him to come back when the mayor is awake."

"Sprite? How does compulsion work?" Gerard whispered under his cloak.

[Compulsion uses your mana to implant false memories, as I've stated. Speak the word Compel in your head, then utter what you wish for them to believe.]

*Compel!*

Gerard felt a slight change in his body. The light in the guard's eyes faded, and he peered into the darkness of the night.

"Davik, is that you? It's me, Gerard! You remember me, right? We met years ago!"

The light returned to Davik's eyes, and he smiled.

"Gerard? Blimey! It is you! Come here!" The guard lowered his spear, walked forward, and hugged Gerard tightly.

Gerard laughed awkwardly.

"Bruno, this is Gerard! Years ago, when I lived in Solares, he helped me with my gambling debts and sent me on that wagon to this village! I may have had nothing but the sword at my hip and clothes on my back, but Gerard might as well have saved my life and prevented me from being sold as a slave."

Gerard nodded during the entire exchange. He took a mental note of every word said in case he needed to repeat the story to anyone else.

"Well, you can go in. Martha, our innkeeper, should have a room for you to rent. Just tell her I sent you, and you'll be fine."

"Thank you, Davik; I owe you one."

"Nah, consider us closer to even now."

"Will do."

Gerard wandered into the quiet village. A guard patrolling the streets walked by, and Gerard received directions to the inn.

A large wooden building loomed over him with a double-door entrance. He walked inside.

More than a dozen people merrily chatting away stopped to look at Gerard. He approached the bar despite the tension created by his entrance. A large woman polishing a flagon behind the bar.

"Haven't seen you before, stranger. What brings you here?"

The customers returned to their conversations.

"Are you the innkeeper, Martha?"

"I am, but I asked you a question first."

"Just a traveller passing through and looking for a place to rest. I was told you might have a room for me?"

"Nope. Nothing available, bad luck, stranger."

"Really? Davik and I go way back. He said you'd be able to help."

"Davik, aye? And you said you know him?"

"Yes, ma'am. We met at the capital, and I bailed him out of a dire financial situation and sent him on his way here."

"Ah, so you're the one!" Martha smiled. "I suppose you're here to collect a debt?"

"No, ma'am. I'm just a friend, passing through."

"Okay, stop with the ma'am nonsense. Call me Martha. I'm Davik's wife, so you've lucked out in this world..."

"He didn't mention he was your husband. I'm Gerard."

"Course he didn't. Nice to meet you, Gerard. I've got a room in the attic you can use. It's not fancy, but I won't charge you for your stay. Think of it as a friend's wife helping you out."

"Thank you, Martha."

Martha nodded, walked into a room behind the bar, and returned with a key.

"Up the stairs to your left, there's a rope at the end of the hall. That'll pull a set of stairs down to get into the attic after you unlock the hatch with this key. Got all that?"

Gerard grabbed the key. A heavy iron key.

"Yes, Ma'... Martha. Left, key, rope, stairs."

"Good. There's a bedroll, a lamp, and a window overlooking the square. Now get, you're distracting my customers."

"Thank you."

Gerard followed her instructions, unlocked the hatch, and pulled the staircase down before entering the attic.

The moonlight peered into the attic through a circular window. Cluttered with tools, wooden boxes, and foreign items, the attic only provided enough room to sleep. Illuminated by the moonlight, the mentioned bedroll and oil lamp were positioned below the window.

"Do vampyres even sleep?"

[No. All forms of the undead do not require sleep. Some, though, benefit from relaxation and meditation. Vampyres are one such creature.]

"Meditation? It's been a while."

Gerard opened the window, letting the fresh air mix with the mould, dust, and dampness in the attic. He set down his belongings, and after a quick search, he found a loose floorboard to stash his large pouch of coins. He sat on the bedroll and relaxed his body.

*Iron keys, torchlight, silver, gold and darker currency, bows, swords, magic, and monsters. A medieval world of fantasy... What other races could exist other than humans?*

He dwelled on the events which passed on his first day in this world. Eventually, his thoughts faded away, and peaceful nothingness crept in—his desire to drink blood lessened.

Some time passed by, and his meditation broke.

*Blood.*