Recovery and New Plans

Ralf eyed Declan for a moment while pondering what he should tell him. Richard wouldn't have hesitated nearly as much, but Alf had some deep seated scars that prevented him from easily trusting people.

'Well, it should be possible to at least tell him about the monster attack? I'm not sure anything else makes sense though.' Neither Alf nor Richard was familiar with the concept of a system. Should this have been his world, then Richard would have suspected that he was subjected to some sort of new-fangled Nazi computer weapon. If Alf had experienced it, he would have suspected witchcraft or wizardry- or possibly a magic beast of some sort. However, the system's introduction said that it was from some sort of reincarnation thing? That was odd to say the least.

Alf knew nothing of reincarnation, and Richard knew of reincarnation as the strange and mystical beliefs of a few peoples in east Asia. He had never placed any stock in such mumbo-jumbo though.

"There was a monster... a boar. I was... uhm... out getting firewood and got attacked. I must have passed out after getting injured and the boar left. I saw your light when I woke up, and made my way here. I don't remember anything after that. I must have passed out again when you found me." Ralf gave him the truth, mostly. It really didn't seem necessary to delve into Alf's or Richard's past. It wasn't like this young man next to him would know where England was or needed to know about Alf desperate situation.

That story was enough to fascinate Declan though! "A monster boar? A regular boars are dangerous enough! What did it look like!? Where was it!?"

Ralf thought a moment, "It was twice the size of any boar I've seen in the market, and its eye seemed to glow green? Just one though, maybe it only had one eye? I didn't get a lot of time to stare at it since it caught me off guard. It attacked and was gone in just a few seconds. It was less than a kilometer from here I'd imagine, though I couldn't tell you which direction from here or where it went after it ran off."

Upon hearing the distance, Declan's face grew serious, "That isn't good. We'll need to inform people as soon as possible, to get someone out here to hunt it down. Just a moment..."

Declan stood and walked over to the hearth and reached up to small basket filled with pieces of paper. He grabbed a stick of some black writing material next to the basket. Alf knew what this was, though it was new to Richard, it was message parchment. A note would be scribbled on it with the pen and then it would be burned. A minor enchantment transferred trace amounts of the heat to a piece of bonded parchment in a different location, thus discoloring the paper on the other side and forming words. It was one of the few magic items that even common folks could afford.

After scribbling for a moment, Declan tossed the paper into the fire and watched it burn up. The only flaw with the process was the need for the entire paper to be consumed. If only part of the paper was burned, then it would only send a partial message. "There. That should warn mom and dad. Hopefully they can gather a few hunters in town prior to heading back."

Ralf was frustrated by this turn of events, naturally. The boar was his prey, and if they managed to kill it all the spoils would go to the hunters. He looked at his injured leg and sighed. Perhaps it was for the best. After seeing the boar, he knew without a doubt that he couldn't kill the thing without a weapon. That was even more true now that he had been hobbled.

He wished there was some way to recover and find a weapon of some sort. He glanced around the cabin, but there was nothing here. The building was sturdy enough to keep out most monsters that would come this close to civilization, namely small ones that were rather dumb like the boar. There was no weapon visible. He guessed that if they did have one that the parents took it for their journey to the city. It made sense, but wasn't very convenient.

*Ding*

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System Message: Both the weapon and the quick recovery can be handled through the system. However, these functions must be purchased with faction points. Would you like to start the tutorial?

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Ralf furrowed his brow at the unexpected message. He glanced at Declan who was still watching the fire burn, and had pulled a small book off the hearth. He seemed to be waiting for a reply. It didn't seem that anyone else could hear the messaging from the system. Cautiously, he thought the word, 'Yes?'

*Ding*

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Shop and Interaction Menu Tutorial Launched.

*Ding*

Quest: The snowstorm has delayed the return of Mr. and Mrs. Krantz. Guard the door through the night to protect the children just in case there is any threat.

Reward: 100 Commoner Faction Points. 10 Experience.

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*Ding*

Please Open the Shop and Interaction Menus to view the available options.

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'Um, Shop?' Ralf thought.

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*Ding*

In his mind, he suddenly saw a list of various factions. Most were greyed out and foggy. So far the only unlocked option was Commoner. Without further ado, he consciously chose that option. Three items were displayed so far:

Common Enchanted Sword- 50 contribution

Common Enchanted Bow and Arrows Set- 50 Contribution

Worn Enchanted Mittens of Neverfrost- 200 Contribution

He mentally reviewed each of the options. The sword and the bow and arrows were both fairly normal. They had minor enchantments. The sword never needed to be sharpened and was resistant to breaking. The bow had a slight magical assist to accuracy, and the six arrows would return to the quiver if they were out of view for more than 30 seconds.

The enchanted mittens were rather odd. They were mittens, magically preserved their wearers warmth, and once per day could shoot out a burst of flame to ignite a target for 20 seconds. Ralf's eyes widened, 'Whoa. That's just a pair of mittens. That seems a little overly powerful. No wonder they are so expensive.'

He eyed the rest of the items listed in the store. There were hundreds of them hidden in their grey fog, and that was just in this tab. This system thing was quite interesting!

'Interaction menu!' Ralf was suddenly quite eager to see more!

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*Ding*

A new menu opened in Ralf's mind. This one showed a profile of his body. It was transparent. All of the vessels, nerves, bones, muscles, and many other things he couldn't identify were visible inside him. It looked like something that one might find in a lab used for training doctors.

After looking for a moment, Ralf noticed that his injured leg was show. There was a large pulsing red location that must be indicating his injury? He mentally touched the location. The image isolated and zoomed in on that location.

An options menu opened.

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*Ding*

Heal Damage- 50 Contribution of host's choice

Enhance- 200 Contribution

Beneficially Mutate- 20000 Contribution

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'Mutate? 2000 Contribution?' Ralf struggled to hide having an outward reaction at this point. 'What does that even mean?'

He shook his head slightly. Declan noticed the movement and spoke up. "Oh! I'm sorry. You must be tired! You can just go to sleep if you'd like?"

Ralf was tired, but that quest and specifically those contribution points... could he sleep and guard the door? "No. No, thank you. I am tired, but am far to nervous to sleep. Say, I don't suppose that we could move the couch by the door? With that monster out there, I'm a bit nervous. Perhaps I could sleep on the couch in front of the door?"

Declan gave him an impressed look. "Why didn't I think of that? I just heard back from my parents. They won't be able to make it back home until the day after tomorrow. With the storm's deep snow, the monster, and recruiting some hunters, it is going to take a bit. We should be fine on food and water though. Stand up and I'll slide the couch over."

Ralf struggled to his feet. His leg hurt badly, but there wasn't really another option. It was already bandaged by Declan earlier, and had stopped bleeding for the most part. He could stand, but if he was a normal human (one without a system), then he'd have difficulty walking for days.

Once the couch was positioned and Ralf was back to comfortable position on it a system message popped up.

*Ding*

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Quest begun.

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Ralf grinned and drifted off to sleep immediately.