3: Curiosity

The next day I pay a little more attention to the landscape, it is the first time that I have been so far from the town. There are only plains, hills, and valleys adorned by a few trees and shrubs in sight. From time to time, we can see in the distance small villages made up of a dozen houses, more or less, but nothing the size of Crossroad's Town.

During the trip, Joaquín tells me many other things about the labyrinths. I am determined to learn as much as I can from them, as they are the cause of the end of the life I knew. I learned that they have different floors and that so far only the 79th floor has been reached.

I need to learn how to fight, if I climb the floors I am sure I will be able to find something that explains where the labyrinths come from and thus I will discover why my parents had to die. Also, if I could have as much strength as that dragon I saw, for example, I could have saved my parents instead of lying on the ground unconscious. I don't want to be in this situation again, I want to be able to protect what is precious to me.

The problem is obvious, I have nothing except the clothes I'm wearing and I can't think of how I'm going to live without anything in a city I don't know. No, that's not true... I still have what I was born with for extraordinary reasons, I am supposed to have access to the two remaining 'benefits' when I turn 13 years old. With everything that happened, I forgot to look at the [menu], I unfold it and I see that nothing has changed, the rest of the options are still blocked. With a frown, I look and unfold the only available option [notifications]. When it is unfolding a new message appears.

<The minimum requirements to be able to use the rest of the benefits were acquired, a brief explanation of them will be given.

Accelerated Balanced Growth: Up to 3 eligible classes earn experience equally regardless of the action taken that grants the experience (experience is not split between them).

User interface: allows the visualization of the user's classes, statistics and equipment. Provides access to a basic map and inventory. It allows to easily visualize and use the skills learned by the user. Note: some of these functions can be customized from the [configuration] tab.

Inspection: Minimal inspection of objects and creature information.

Pressing 'confirm' will unlock these benefits.

[Confirm]>

Reading the message, I understood the reason why I had not seen any change yet.

Nice!!! This is definitely going to help; the priority is to find a place to stay and a way to get money to buy food and clothes. Once those two things are assured, I will be able to think about the labyrinths again.

**********

Night falls. We stop the march and eat a little, without fire, since yesterday we ran out of wood.

"Tonight, I need you to do a few hours of guard, there are usually no bandits or beasts on the road that connects the Crossroad's town with the capital, since it is a very important route for the kingdom, but it is better to be cautious anyway. Yesterday I did not want to bother considering all the things you are going through... But I haven't slept for two days and I need to rest for a few hours. Wake me up when you want to change. "

"Ok, no problem, I still have nightmares when I sleep."

"It's normal, time is the only remedy, or so they say .... Good evening"

It suits me well. I can take this moment to test and experiment with the user interface. I did not want to do it along the way because of fear, since I don't know what might happen in front of Joaquín.

Ok let's start with [status]. An image is displayed that says:

<Xelean>

<Health 130>

<Mana 130>

<Stamina 130>

<Classes>

[none]

<Affinity>

[Spirit]

[Fire (minor)]

<Statistics>

Strength 13

Constitution 13

Agility 13

Intelligence 13

Will 13

<0 stat points available>

Looks like I'll have to wait to get combat classes… I can't do anything in this section at the moment.

Now it's time to check [inventory]. When thinking about the option, two images appear, a silhouette of a person on the left and a rectangular image on the right, which is shaded, with the exception of six squares.

hmm, if this option works as the name suggests, it should be some storage class. I look for a nearby rock and try to save it with my thoughts ... it works!!! This means that I can take up to six objects with me without worrying about how to transport them. Now let's see what I can do with the silhouette. But no matter how hard I try, nothing happens.

I guess it must be related to the image on the right. I try to drag the rock toward the silhouette, but it stops halfway. Maybe you can only drag things that you can wear. I take off my boots and put them in inventory. From there I try to drag them and… this time, I can do it without problems. Upon reaching the silhouette, the boots move to the bottom of it and a message appears above them that says [equipped]. At the same time the boots appear wrapping my feet.

I could equip all my clothes like this for more comfort when undressing, but I guess it's not worth it, since I try to take my boots off normally but I discover that I can't. I have to unequip them from the inventory. It could be problematic if I had to take off a piece of clothing in front of people, as it would reveal my skill and I don't think it's good for me if it comes out.

The [skills] option is a shaded image divided into two sections, in which two skills appear. The first one is <Inspect> and it is in the left section named [Active Skills]. And the second one <Accelerated Balanced Growth> it's in the right section named [Passive Skills]. When I focus on the first, I see its description [Allow the user to see basic information of creatures and objects], while in the description of the second I see that it says the same as in the notification message, but there are also three empty squares at the end to choose the affected classes.

The passive abilities I suppose are continuously activated, but this ability to inspect .... I try to use it with the rock in inventory and a square image comes out with the information [small rock]. Hmm, it's really basic information I suppose. I try to use it on Joaquín and I see in a square image over his head [Joaquín, Warrior]. It seems that it does not affect the objective in any way, the question is: can other people see the boxes? When I wake up Joaquín to stand guard I'm going to use the ability. If I see that he notices something, I can use his being half asleep as an excuse.

The [map] option is simple to understand. A map is simply displayed in my field of vision, on which I can zoom in and out areas at will, allowing me to see smaller or larger areas. Most of it is shaded, while a small area is detailed. I guess they are the explored and unexplored areas of the world.

Only the last option [configuration] remains, I unfold it and an image with several sections appears.

< Enable Simplified status>

< Enable Mini map>

< Enable Loot automatically>

<Enable pop-up notifications>

It seems that they can be activated to customize the user interface. The first two add images continuously in my field of vision. <Simplified status> shows me my health, mana and stamina in the upper left corner of my vision; while <Mini map> displays a map of the surrounding area in the upper right corner. When I focus on the third option a description jumps [Send the loot obtained from the combats directly to the inventory] and in the fourth the message says [Show incoming notifications in the field of vision for 3 seconds]

Hmm, I've already inspected all the options. It has been some time since I started the experiments and I feel tired now that I have nothing left to prove. Time to wake up Joaquín and test if he senses something when I inspect him.

I approach him and shake him slightly. "Joaquín, I think I'm going to fall asleep. Can you stand guard for a while please? I will try to get some sleep"

"Hmmm okay."

I settle down to sleep and while doing it I use [Inspect] on Joaquin once more, but he doesn't react. It seems that the others do not see the square images. I can sleep well tonight, without nightmares, probably due to exhaustion.