Encounter [PART 1]

Alexander's gaze was drawn inexorably towards the point of impact where the primitive woman's improvised club had struck the earth mere inches from his face. Debris and dust still hung in the air, the residual shockwave tousling his sweat-matted hair. A tremor ran through his body as he imagined the devastating consequences had that blow connected with his skull instead of the loamy soil.

It dawned upon him then – a fleeting realization that perhaps the savage had intentionally pulled her strike at the last moment. His eyes widened fractionally as he made the connection, prompting him to try reasoning with her once more.

"Calm down," he urged, his tone measured in the hopes of deescalating the tense situation. "There's no need to become enemies. Just put down the club and untie me first so we can talk."

In response, the woman uttered a string of guttural gibberish that made Alexander's brow furrow in bewilderment. "&*##@%," she vocalized, her gaze boring into him with an intensity that sent a shiver racing down his spine.

Perceiving his stunned expression, the primitive warrior raised her weapon once more, evidently deciding that further discourse would be futile. Alexander felt his pulse quicken as the makeshift club arced upwards, preparing to deliver what would surely be a lethal blow.

[Well, this complicates matters,] the disembodied voice mused, its sardonic amusement grating against Alexander's already frayed nerves.

"You think?" he managed through gritted teeth, tendons straining futilely against his bonds. "Any other keen insights you'd care to share while I'm about to have my skull caved in?"

A sobering realization washed over him – for all his linguistic proficiency, spanning thirteen fluent languages and a further twenty at a basic level, he could not comprehend a single utterance from this savage denizen of the primordial world.

Desperation mounting, he turned his gaze towards the shimmering blue interface hovering before him. "If you have any life-saving grace, you better give it to me right now, or else we're cooked," he addressed the voice, his words clipped with urgency.

[I do have some authority, but I can't use it easily,] the voice responded, its tone infuriatingly nonchalant.

"Authority?" Alexander questioned, his brow furrowing momentarily before he dismissed the inquiry with a shake of his head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Just use it!"

[If I use it right now, I won't be able to use it again when you're in danger,] the voice cautioned, prompting an exasperated retort from the beleaguered scientist.

"Am I not in enough danger right now?"

A pregnant pause hung in the air, the primitive woman's muscles coiling as she prepared to unleash her devastating strike.

[Well, I guess that's true,] the voice conceded at last.

[Here we go,] it announced, and the blurred blue display solidified into a crisp, legible interface.

[

Name: Alexander Hawthorne

Title: None

Strength: 1

Stamina: 1

Mana: 0

Intelligence: 10

Stat Points: 0, Skill Points: 0

{SHOP}

]

Alexander's eyes rapidly scanned the newly revealed information, his mind racing to make sense of the peculiar system laid out before him.

[This is the only authority I can exert in this new reality,] the voice explained. [It can be used to make you stronger. The more you restore the world towards the way it was before, the more authority I have that can be expressed in terms of points to make you stronger. But now that you have no points, you can't access anything.]

A flicker of realization sparked within Alexander's consciousness – this bizarre interface operated akin to the mechanics of a video game, albeit one with far higher stakes than any virtual realm he had ever encountered.

Instinctively, his gaze was drawn to the {SHOP} prompt, and with a mere thought, a new menu unfurled before him, listing an array of potential acquisitions. He scrolled feverishly, parsing each entry with a critical eye until one, in particular, caught his attention: {Universal Language (1,000SP) - A skill that helps one comprehend and speak any language}.

Without hesitation, Alexander focused his will upon the "Buy" prompt, ignoring the voice's cautionary words.

[Are you sure about this? This is the only time I can use my authority without points.]

"Yes, quickly," he commanded, dismissing the entity's concerns with an impatient wave of his bound hands.

In that moment, a startling clarity washed over him. The interface presented two distinct currencies – stat points and skill points – which were undoubtedly separated for a reason. If he were to hazard a guess, there existed no means of directly converting between the two. Therefore, any skill or ability acquired through the expenditure of skill points would grant him no appreciable increase in raw strength or physicality.

Even if he were to somehow obtain a means of escaping his bonds, without the statistical might to overcome his adversary, such a boon would prove ultimately futile. No, the wisest course lay in establishing a common tongue through which dialogue – and, perhaps, understanding – could be achieved.

[You've acquired the skill {Universal Language},] the voice announced, and Alexander felt a subtle shift in his perception, an ineffable expansion of his cognitive faculties.

The primitive woman's incomprehensible utterances crystallized into intelligible speech, archaic yet possessing a cadence and structure that his mind could now effortlessly parse.

"I knew you were one of them!" the primitive woman screeched, her guttural words now rendered intelligible by the strange gift of understanding. Without hesitation, she swung her massive club in a lethal arc towards Alexander's prone form.

Time seemed to slow as the scientist processed the imminent threat, her declaration echoing through his mind. 'One of them'? What did she mean by that? Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to ponder the enigmatic statement as he urgently called out, "Wait, stop!"

To his relief, the acquired skill did not merely grant comprehension but also the ability to articulate in this strange, ancient tongue. The woman faltered, her strike halted mid-swing as she stared at him with unbridled astonishment, clearly rattled by his sudden mastery of her language.

Suspicion flickered across her weathered features as she regarded him warily, lowering her makeshift weapon without fully relinquishing her defensive stance. "Why did you capture me?" Alexander pressed, seizing the opportunity to probe for information. "And who are 'them'?"

The woman squatted beside him, her piercing gaze raking over his features as she studied him with an almost feral intensity, reaching out to grasp his face and turn it from side to side. "You can speak our language?" she murmured, her tone a curious blend of wonderment and trepidation.

Alexander suppressed a wince at her rough manhandling, addressing her question with one of his own. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Because the barbarians don't speak our language," she replied matter-of-factly, her calloused fingers tracing the contours of his face with an unsettling mix of curiosity and scrutiny.

A flicker of realization dawned within Alexander's mind. "What makes you think I'm one of them?" he asked, prompting an immediate response that sent a chill racing down his spine.

"Because you dress weirdly."

For a moment, he could only gape at her in stunned silence, his intellect rebelling against the stark simplicity of her reasoning. To condemn a man to death based solely upon his attire – it was a level of primal savagery that defied all logic and rationale.

And yet, he reminded himself, this was a world governed not by the trappings of civilization but by the most fundamental drives of survival. Here, in this untamed wilderness, deviance from the norm could well be perceived as an existential threat, to be eradicated without hesitation or mercy.

Regaining his composure, Alexander met the woman's suspicious glare with a measured calmness. "Well, as you can see, I'm not a barbarian," he reasoned. "So can you let me go?"

Her reaction was instantaneous – snatching up her fallen club, she leveled the makeshift weapon towards him once more, her earlier curiosity eclipsed by a resurgence of primal hostility. "I cannot," she snarled, her grip tightening around the gnarled wood. "I heard you speak barbarian earlier. You must have somehow learned our language."

Alexander felt his heart sink as the fragile thread of rapport between them unraveled. Despite the newfound ability to communicate, a chasm of cultural misunderstanding and deep-rooted suspicion remained – one that could prove insurmountable without a significant shift in perspective.