4 Looking around the fortress

David thought about the man's offer for a minute or two. The man didn't find that offensive, and waited patiently.

'My freedom would be restricted, so exploring the area probably wouldn't be possible. On the other hand, I could gather information about this world in here. Besides, it's definitely safer to be in a fortress rather than to wander around aimlessly.'

David took a deep breath as he made his decision.

"May I ask some questions first?"

David already decided that he wanted to join, however he wanted to gain some information first.

"Go ahead." The man responded.

"What would be my job here?"

"Well, you'd have to guard the gate or patrol the area for any monsters, if you would encounter one, you'd have to remove it. You'd be placed in an unit that would be under the command of a captain."

David thought about the man's words and he was relieved. His job would be something that he expected it to be, after all, those were the basic things that he assumed a soldier should do in a fortress.

David asked his second question.

"If I wanted to leave the army at a later date, would I be allowed to without any trouble?"

"Well, that would depend on your rank, after all, the higher your rank, the more it would affect the army when you left."

David thought that it was reasonable, if a general left the army on a whim, the consequences would be quite severe.

"Very well then, I agree."

"Great!" The middle aged man smiled. He took out a little bit of paper and wrote something on it. He then handed the paper to David.

"Take this to the blacksmith, you should get some equipment from him for free if you give him this. After you're done, go to the gate and ask about the whereabouts of captain Henry. You're going to be in an unit under his unit."

"How will I find the blacksmith?"

"Just ask the soldiers for directions, you'll get there eventually."

David thanked the man and left the house.

'Now that I think about it, was I able to survive in the forest because the strong monsters were preparing for an attack or is the strength of the monsters exaggerated by the people here?' David thought to himself as he was leaving.

After asking a few soldiers for the way to the blacksmith, David eventually arrived in front of a smithy.

As he walked in, he saw a large man working in front of an anvil, He had short black hair, and a black moustache. The man had muscular arms and was dressed in leather clothing. There was a long scar on his forehead.

He stopped working as he noticed David coming in.

"I don't recognize you, are you a new recruit?"

The man asked.

"I was supposed to give you this."

David handed the man the paper.

The man took the paper and started reading it. He showed an astonished expression for a moment before he regained his composure.

"You came from the Forgotten Forest, huh? No wonder Sir Robert values you."

'Robert? So that's the name of that middle aged man?'

David thought to himself.

"Alright, heavy armor or light armor?"

The blacksmith asked.

'Well, since the time I used my stat points I feel much stronger, so it wouldn't hurt to try the heavy armor this time.'

"Heavy armor."

"Alright, I'll get you a better spear as well."

The man walked into a different room, David assumed that it was a storage. He then came out with a set of iron armor. He put the armor set on the table.

The man went into the storage again and came out with a spear.

"Here you go."

"Is there any place where I can change my armor?" asked David.

The blacksmith scratched his head for a moment before responding.

"Well, you can go behind my smithy, there's nobody there."

David thanked the blacksmith and took his armor. It took him two trips to take it entirely.

'I couldn't really expose my inventory ability in front of him, it would be hard to explain.' David thought to himself.

After making sure that there was nobody around him, David took the armor and spear into his inventory and equipped them.

A moment later, David was dressed in iron armor, he was also holding a spear. Two crossed swords were painted on the chestplate. It was a symbol that he saw on the armor of the other soldiers in the fortress.

"The armor isn't really that heavy, and it doesn't limit my movement much. The spear looks sharper too, nice."

David was satisfied with his new equipment.

"Now then, time to check out that quest."

David opened his menu and entered the quest section. He completed the quest, and immediately afterwards, he could access the skill section. As he entered it, David instantly saw a skill tree, or rather, two skill trees.

They were called [Leader] and [Spearman] respectively.

David first inspected the leader skill tree. There were two skills available to him.

[Nerves of steel](lvl 0) - Allows the user to stay calm regardless of the situation.

[Charisma](lvl 0) - Makes it more likely for people to follow the commands of the user.

David then checked the spearman skill tree, this time, there was only a single skill available to him.

[Spear mastery](lvl 0) - Increases the damage dealt with the spear, also increases proficiency with the spear.

"Well, since I'm not really leading anyone yet, charisma is currently useless. That leaves only spear mastery and nerves of steel..."

Since David was level 12, he had 11 skill points that he could use.

After thinking for a moment, David made his choice.

He upgraded Nerves of steel to level 4, and the spear mastery skill to level 7.

David instantly felt information being transferred into his mind, he now knew how to position himself properly, how to not make any unnecessary movements. Basically, his knowledge of using the spear was now equal to an experienced soldier. The way he held his spear also changed significantly.

"The nerves of steel skill should help me not panic during a fight, level 4 should be sufficient for now."

David strapped his spear onto his back and started walking to the gate, he still remembered where it was, since he entered through it.

When David was near the gate, he approached a guard.

"Excuse me, do you know where captain Henry is?"

"Captain Henry? He's in the tower on the left."

Said the guard as he pointed at a tower on the left side of the gate.

"Thanks."

David climbed the wall using a ladder and when he finally got on it, he looked around for a moment.

'The scenery looks pretty nice from a higher area.'

He then started walking towards the tower.