The Village

"Thank you. I'll be sure to use everything you gave me, nothing will go to waste." Zayne said with a sincere smile as he took the basket from Jafa's hand.

[Basket from Old Man Jafa]

In this basket, there are two Level 1 Health Potions and some fruit with pieces of beef jerky, and three loaves of bread which is enough to stay full for a long time.]

'Food... Even though it's game, I'll still feel hungry, so it's definitely a great reward.' Zayne uttered to himself as the basket in his hand glowed white.

The basket turned into a white flash, flying into Zayne's palm, thus moving into his inventory where he could use it at any time.

"Wow, that's your special Travelers ability, isn't it?" Jafa asked with a curious look as his eyes went wide. It was almost like magic to him.

'What... What is he talking about...?' Zayne was puzzled until he realized what Jafa meant. He smiled and said, "Yes, it's honestly very comfortable."

Jafa just nodded with a meaningful look before glancing at Zayne's arm wound, "Looks like you had the bad luck to fall, if you don't treat this wound you could be in big trouble. You'd better see a doctor for help."

Jafa had seen many wounds in his life, also he was well aware of what beasts lived around the village, so he knew that Zayne had been bitten by a wolf, but he did not broach the subject as he did not expect anyone to be hurt because of his request.

"Yeah... You might be right, but I just came into this world, so actually, you're the only one I know... I don't know where I'm going..." Zayne muttered as he scratched the back of his head with an awkward look.

"Agh, don't worry about it. There is only one good doctor in this village, the rest who try to practice medicine here are incapable of anything and that doctor is a good friend of mine." Jafa said with a confident expression before pointing to the side, "Go there. Say you're from me and your wound will be treated for free."

Zayne turned as he saw in the distance a tall bell tower that was one of the tallest buildings in the village.

"Once you get there, you'll have no trouble figuring out where the pharmacy is. Well, good luck." Jafa smiled as if he had completed his task.

'Going to the doctor probably isn't a bad idea. I don't know what to do now anyway, so it's a good opportunity to get to see this place better.' Zayne muttered to himself, said goodbye to Jafa, and headed toward the bell tower.

His only quest was to explore the strange ruins that Gael had pointed out to him, but Zayne wasn't ready to go there yet as he felt it was something special.

'Damn... There are still so many people here, it seems this game is actually very popular.' Zayne complained slightly looking around.

It had been almost twelve hours since the launch of Fallen Fate Online and even though it was now early morning in the real world, there were still a lot of players in the village and newcomers kept showing up.

'Hmmm... Perhaps I should have headed somewhere for the beta testers, those guys have a lot more knowledge of this game than the others, though maybe I should stick to my own way.' Zayne wondered as he stopped.

He reached the bell tower and next to it was a two-story wooden building with a massive sign in the shape of a red cross. This sign was known to everyone, in all worlds.

"Great, I'm here." Zayne took a step forward, entering.

Immediately, a strong aroma of herbs, emanating from the various medicines, rushed toward him. The main room was far away, but Zayne could still clearly sense the bright scent.

'Hah, looks like Jafa wasn't lying. He actually sent me to the good doctor.' Zayne headed forward down the corridor until he reached a slightly ajar door.

Normally he would have decided to knock, but this time he decided to just open the door. The first thing he saw was a middle-aged man sitting at a desk, writing something down on a piece of paper. He had shoulder-length gray hair, a thick mustache, and deep blue eyes. In front of him sat a pretty girl in a white medical gown. She was crumbling in a mortar a root of some kind into a powder.

"Hm...? Amelia, are we supposed to have visitors now?" The man asked as he stared at Zayne with a hard gaze.

The girl turned, smiled slightly, and said, "Young man, did you want something? I don't remember you. Perhaps you need some help?"

Zayne was confused for a moment, then he spoke, "Hey, my name is Zayne, I was sent here by old man Jafa, he said you were a good friend of his."

The man frowned, rubbing his chin, and with a thoughtful look said, "Well, well, the last few hours I've been getting very busy and as soon as I decided to take a break he immediately interrupted me... Agh... Okay, come here I'll examine your wound."

Zayne nodded and sat down in the chair next to him.

"My name is Dr. Harald, it looks like it's just a scratch so I'll do it for free this time, but if it's more complicated you'll have to pay for it. Harald became serious as he opened Zayne's wrist.

His gaze swiftly went over the entire wound as he said confidently, "You were attacked by a wolf, right? You're lucky the beast's fangs didn't enter your veins or you'd be in real trouble."

Harald stood up, got a bandage and a jar of white ointment from the cupboard, and began bandaging Zayne's wound.

At this time Amelia finished her work, looked at Zayne, and asked, "You must be scared aren't you? There are plenty of wolves around our village, but they rarely attack humans, so you're pretty out of luck."

"Yeah... I was pretty frightened. I had never encountered a wolf in my life, especially one as dangerous as this one. Its red eyes and black fur could actually scare anyone, good thing I was able to kill it." Zayne muttered with a light sigh as if trying to forget what had happened then.

As soon as he said it Amelia and Harald's eyes went wide as they looked at each other with a look of disbelief.

'Hm? What's going on...?' Zayne was puzzled as he felt uncomfortable feeling as if he had said something stupid.

"Zayne... Are you telling the truth?" Harald asked tightly squeezing Zayne's hand. From his serious look, Zayne knew at once that it was very important.

"Yes." Zayne nodded confidently, "I was fulfilling old man Jafa's favor and on my way to the cemetery I was attacked by a black wolf. I was lucky enough to kill the beast as I drove a blade into its head."

Harald muttered something to himself for a while as it was impossible to understand exactly what he was saying, then he looked at Zayne with a glowing gaze and said, "Come with me! We must hurry!"

"What...? Where...?" Zayne asked in confusion.

"To the village elder! We must find out what actually happened! Let's go!" Harald exclaimed, threw on his grey coat, and headed quickly for the exit.