“Logan, it is time to wake up”, the System said within Logan’s head, changing out the blaring alarm clock for a wake-up call akin to hotels.

“Thanks, I’m up”, Logan replied groggily in his head.

“We have been working in your slumber, Logan. The notification windows will be changing to better reflect their contents. We have also deduced further information based on your new experience gained from the ‘Of the Ones Above and Below’ book.”

“Oh really? Hit me with it”, Logan replied through his mind as usual. Sitting up from his bedroll he began the new morning routine of packing up the camp. Marcus started to stir awake as he heard his companion.

“From your new knowledge of the deities, and searching our own databanks, we surmise that each deity only holds a single sponsored being. As a new quest has not been assigned to you it is possible they are granting quests to each one at different times, or they are responses to outside stimuli.”

Moving to aid his ally, Logan packed up and checked Marcus’s gear. “So, a waiting game then. I would prefer they just outright contact me. I have quite a few words for the bastards… though, if they have the power to move me between worlds, I may want to hold off on those”, he thought.

System agreed with Logan, their conversation ending quickly as Logan wanted to focus on the day ahead. Checking their communal loot bag alongside all the gear they were carting around as well as for the next 9 days, Logan thought it was finally time to reveal his new skill.

“Marcus, I got something new to show you, bring your bag over here”, he asked, checking the immediate vicinity for any other presence.

“Sure, a new skill?” Marcus replied.

“Yeah, something I don’t want anyone else to see. I will hide it most of the time, but you deserve to see it”, Logan continued. Taking the communal bag from Marcus, Logan held it up and imagined it going into his inventory, as he descended the bag it began to dematerialise into green cubes of data and static electricity from the bottom upwards.

Standing with wide-open eyes and mouth, Marcus controlled his almost yelling voice, “Pondress bless us! That is some powerful magic, I have never heard or seen of anything like that. Is it contained elsewhere? Teleported?”

“It is stored in a different space for me to access, it’ll help us to carry more items”, Logan tried to explain, at least from his own knowledge of the personal storage space, which he referred to as his inventory. Taking the communal bag back out of his inventory had a similar effect, though this time in reverse.

“A valued skill indeed, inventory, a strange name for it. Can you hide it in any way?”

Moving his hand into his coin pouch, Logan touched his coins with the intent of moving them to the inventory. It made no sound or movement from the outside looking in, but the coins were transported to his inventory. “Notice anything?” Logan asked.

Marcus merely shook his head in reply. Using the same movement, Logan transferred Tara’s dagger that was placed on the back of his belt to the inventory. It made the same display of green cubes and static but was hard to make out.

“I saw a bit that time, looks easy enough to hide, can I just put items in the communal bag with you carrying it to place them into the inventory?”

“The skill said others can’t access it, but maybe if I give you permission?” Logan was curious, holding the communal bag as Marcus placed his waterskin inside. Surprisingly, the waterskin was transferred with Logan’s mental permission.

“That’ll help Harvesting quite a bit”, Logan thought to himself.

The pair exchanged information about the new skill, its uses, alongside their plans for travel. With 9 days ahead of them they would be on the road for quite some time and would pass by many different forests as well as travellers. Marcus had planned out a few stops along the way, but nothing that would last more than an hour.

As the first stop on their long journey, Marcus had informed Logan that the plants and herbs closest to Tinte were cultivated and harvested by the villagers or plundered by adventurers, so it was rare they would get a chance to find any. However, the further they moved from civilization, the higher chances of finding herbs. A small glade was known to the church that contained several types of medicinal plants for use in healing potions, a day’s walk meant it wouldn’t be abundant but would contain enough for Logan to learn a new skill.

Around 3 hours into their day, the duo arrived at the glade, the happy chirping of birds accented the barks of foxes calling for their mates. Due to the herbal nature of the area, it smelled sweet and sour, nearby springs carrying damp almost syrupy tastes on the winds. Shifting from the normal greens and browns, the glade shared colours of white, light red, soft blues, and calming pinks.

“This is it, Logan. It doesn’t have much of a name, we just refer to it as the healing glade. See the plants?” Marcus pointed out, a smile across his face and a pep in his step.

“Identify”, Logan thought, looking over the glade. Several new items appeared before his eyes, from herbs that helped aches and pains, others for indigestion, his gaze finally fell on two particular herbs that would prove useful to him. Two windows appeared, showing the new designs that the System had made for him.

“I can see a few useful herbs here, red cartton and blue strah”, Logan noted, nodding and pointing at the herbs to Marcus.

“Good eye, yeah that’s the ones you’re mentioning. Did you use Score or something similar for that? Normally takes me a while to find fully grown herbs.”

“Another skill I have, it doesn’t take a slot. Similar to what I used to look at your capabilities.”

“Ah, my lips are nailed, Logan”, Marcus returned, a twist on the common Earth phrase.

As Logan started to pick the herbs a new window appeared to note another skill to be unlocked.

“So, I guess Identification won’t find these if my Herbalism skill is too low? System, got any input to this?”

“This is correct, Logan. As these are relatively weak herbs they are easy to identify through the Identification skill”, the System replied in his head.

Finishing their picking of herbs and flowers, Logan ended up with three red cartton and two blue strah, all of shoddy quality, that were mature enough to be used in Alchemy for later. After collecting what they wanted, Logan placed the herbs into his bag while sneakily adding them to his inventory, training for the time he’d use it in the sight of others.

Taking a short rest, the two tired adventurers sat on the glade with their backs resting on the soft grass. A cool wind blew from east to west, carrying the honeyed scents of the glade to the pair, tranquil sounds of the wilderness filled their ears. Shutting his eyes, Logan’s mind wandered amidst the best that the world of Avanar had to offer.

Calm, comforting, casual napping on grass without the harbouring noises of cars and electronic devices. Blinking lights were replaced with the rays of the unblocked sun, starry skies were present where light pollution made Earth’s nightly sights a hazy eyesore. Logan would miss the air that often smelt of market-stall and van cooked meats, but swapping out blocked sewers for general muddy areas didn’t seem to put either in a better position.

“The beach would have been nicer”, Logan began to think to himself. Turning his head he saw that Marcus had dozed off. “Dad would have called the police by now, been gone a week at this point. I hope he’s doing well, he had another doctor’s appointment a few days ago. System, do you know if time is the same as back on Earth here?”

“We do not have that information, though from what we have gathered from your memories and mentions we believe that the timeframes of both worlds are similar”, the System replied in his head.

“At least when I return it won’t be several years later. How long will it take me though? I hate leaving my dad alone like this.”

Time went by as the two napping adventurers took it easy on the glade. Awaking around an hour later, Logan was startled as he sat up to see Marcus practising with what seemed to be his new spells. Tendrils of water flowing from one hand’s fingers to the other, swirling, contracting, and expanding to his will.

“Finished that book then eh?” Logan asked abruptly.

Shocked by his companion’s words, Marcus shot his head upwards to Logan as the water between his hands exploded outwards, drenching the Devout’s clothing as well as his face. Letting out a shocked “ah” in response, Logan couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s misfortune.

“Oh quiet, Logan. Use Clean and I can show you some more”, Marcus retaliated, a teased annoyance in his tone.

Using his mick, Logan dried Marcus off so that the newly gifted caster could demonstrate his new powers. Even though the tome would instruct 8 different spells of 1st level, Marcus could only show off Aqua and Gaia, the water and earth element-based spells. He also informed Logan that he could also use the Infuse spell, but couldn’t demonstrate it without actually casting the spell. Merely forming and controlling the elements was proof enough he could cast the other two, and so still had his daily 5/5 MP.

“Great work, though a shame you got only three spells from that tome.”

“More than I expected, actually. I don’t hear about many Devouts who use more than healing and enhancing spells.”

“That might just be to your narrow knowledge from living in Tinte.”

“A possibility to be sure, Logan.”

Finishing their preparations for the morning, Logan also asked about the idea of miscasting and quick casting. The Spellthief didn’t learn much new for miscasting, just the same information that heavier than cloth armour can cause it alongside taking damage during the casting of spells. Quick casting was more prevalent when spellcasters had access to 2nd level spells, and almost all that could utilize 3rd level spells could quick cast. Though it seemed that quick casting cost more MP or slots to achieve when a spellcaster was starting to learn the skill.

Logan concluded that his ability to quick cast was a consolation prize for the fact his number of slots was seemingly stagnated, though he still held out hope for the time he had access to 2nd level spells. Marcus from his limited knowledge had mostly heard of rank 8 spellcasters using 2nd level spells, and so Logan was only two levels away.

Leaving the glade, the pair continued their last 4 hours of walking for the day. They passed by several more carts, villagers, and adventurers, though the latter part appeared more frequently than the others the further they got from Tinte. At each opportunity, Logan used Identification to train up his skill, which quickly paid off with the appearance of two more windows.

“Well, that is useful”, Logan thought, slightly stunned as it was the first time a new skill unlocked due to levelling up another, instead of just appearing when the skill was first acquired.

Clicking his fingers, Logan saw thin grey lines emit from his hand, shooting out in a circular fashion from his position. The clicking noises echoed in his ears as he felt several soft pokes on his body as the sound returned. A few seconds passed until a small version of his map appeared, showing greyed out terrain and objects alongside an array of different shades of green with varying sizes.

Looking in the direction of the dots, Logan could see that Marcus, the birds and bunnies, and slithering snakes were all marked with darker greens for smaller sizes and brighter for larger. The skill mentioned objects, allies, and enemies, so Logan surmised that it would probably differentiate between them with a higher tier.

“Hey, Marcus, have you ever heard of the Echo Radar skill?”

“Can’t say I have. I only know about things I saw or heard about in Tinte. We could ask around at the capital. Why?”

“It’s another skill I was able to unlock, it allows me to pinpoint creature locations that are close to us.”

“Wow, you have a wide range of skills at your disposal now. I heard a bit about oracles in my investigations but this is much more than I gathered”, Marcus responded with another look of shock on his face.

“This seems like it should be a skill available to other people, though would need a bit of training to obtain. That, or a skill tome would unlock it.”

The two talked for a while longer, Logan explaining the new skill and Marcus getting even more excited to be adventuring alongside him. Marcus had yet to gain any more skill points to unlock further skills via Logan’s abilities, which led to an even bigger gap between the two. Asking the System, Logan didn’t get any details on that part of his powers, stating it was probably due to Marcus being his partnered NPC.

Another day had come to an end, the long walk giving Logan plenty of time to reflect on his time spent in Avanar. Reconciling the fact he couldn’t do much in his current state, he conceded to his earlier thoughts of having to bend to the will of forces he could not see. It didn’t make him happy, but he had plenty of plans on how to proceed.

His Intelligence attribute would make the System more helpful as well as closer to an ally than a neutral party. The quests would give him an edge in a world full of monsters as well as people who would hunt him down. Adventuring halls would provide resources for better protection. And finally, the villagers’ trust in him would allow him easier access to places of rest or aid.

Logan would use this world to his advantage where he was able, but would still help where he could. Talking with the System, and the people themselves, it was clear that these were real people, they just lived in a different world to him. Even with the weird naming of an NPC, they weren’t just made up characters in a game, they just weren’t a part of whatever scheme the deities had brewing for him and the other PCs.

“I’ll take what this world has to offer, and with what I take, I’ll get back home. Dad is waiting for me, and I don’t know how long he can wait.”

Reading through another book for the night, Logan was able to start and finish “Plants 'n' 'Erbs” as he thought it best to get ahead in Herbalism if he were to gather more herbs on the road to the capital. Increasing his mastery by 25% the tome also taught Logan several low-level herbs that would be useful if he were to pick up the Alchemy skill or just to sell off. Aside from the Herbalism, since the tome was another 100 pages he gained another 10% into his Reading skill.

Settling in for the night, the adventurers were beset with nightly rains, thankfully their small tents kept them dry through their rest, though it did disturb them a bit. Logan couldn’t help but remember the day he was taken, it was raining then too, though to his appreciation this night lacked any lightning.

Calling over to Marcus, the Spellthief finally asked about how he could go about recovering from the scar that remained on his cheek. He had almost forgotten about it since there wasn’t much in the way of mirrors during their travels.

“Scarring like that can be healed with regenerative magic, though it costs a bit more than the normal healing spells we use. I find it strange you even got a scar like that, it must have been quite the deep wound or left too long before it was healed. We could find a Devout chapel at the capital when we get there if you’re worried about it, but I find it to be quite the battle scar”, Marcus informed.

Looking to his right hand, thinking back to his first encounter with a wolf, Logan was surprised to notice there wasn’t much sign of scarring, a few needle-like light patches of skin was all that was visible. “Maybe the power of the attacker denotes how much scarring is left, either that or the significance of the attack?” he ruminated.

Moving onto their third day of travel, the two adventurers awoke to a morning routine that was becoming quite instinctual. “This is taking a lot longer than I thought, the walks are full of conversation with Marcus but the constant influx of information is making me drone out.”

As an almost answer to the boredom that was starting to overtake Logan, a few hours into their walk across the dirt roads the two budding adventurers were treated to a more exciting sight. A large carriage darted into their vision down the road, barreling towards them at breakneck speeds as the horse pulling it showed signs of claw wounds. Struggling to stay sitting at the driver’s seat was a man wearing leather padding that also had claw marks across his armour.

Drawing their weapons, the two adventurers prepared for attack. “Marcus, get your healing ready, they could still be under attack”, Logan instructed, worried the carriage rider was a mere traveller beset by monsters.

While they couldn’t see from this distance, the hazel eyes of the driver widened as he saw the duo on the road. “Hoy there! Pray, give me aid, sirs! Vorkas are on the winds at my tail”, the man cried out, trying to raise a bloodied arm.

“Logan, eyes to the sky!” Marcus accompanied, pointing upwards.

Creaking his head skyward, Logan saw 2 fuzzy aqua-blue images divebombing in their direction. “Identify.”

“Vorkas - Avian. Level 3: 22/22 HP, 0/0 MP. An avian species that typically focus on carrion meals, though seek fresh meat during their mating seasons. The vorkas are hard predators to spy in the skies due to their blue-coloured underbellies and are often difficult to spot amongst forests due to their green-coloured topside coat. Vorkas are family-orientated creatures, often hunting in packs of 5 or more. Components: Vorkas feather x10.”

Thinking back to the wisdom of Marcus, Logan was fine showing off some quick casting to this passerby as he could play off as being a higher ranked Wizard. Throwing an arm upwards he called out “Force!”, a wave of energy welling up in his shoulder and skyrocketing through his arm, exploding from his palm, and surging to meet the beaked foe on its fast descent.

A meaty punch of magic hit the left vorkas square in its jaw, dealing an enhanced 11 damage due to Logan’s reallocation of his attributes. This attack sent the avian backwards, delaying its divebomb. Sweeping his hand to the right, Logan let out another insane wave of magic to lessen the speed of the approaching foes. Due to the speed of their advance, they had little time to adjust their direction, and its face was supplanted with a magical torrent.

In the time it took to fire the two volleys of Force, the carriage had reached the defending adventurers. The sounds of rickety wood were quickly followed by the tearing of cloth as another vorkas had erupted from the back of the vehicle, causing it to veer to the side and tumble over. With the momentum of the carriage being tossed over, the driver was sent flying, which Marcus was able to anticipate and catch the man as they both fell to the floor.

With a foe much closer to the Spellthief, Logan was able to get a better look at the creature. It was around 4’ long, 2’ tall and wide, a weird hybrid of a wyvern and vulture. Its large wings ended in two large 4-digit claws, its hind legs bent like a faun’s. Two wide eyes started near the centre of their face and stretched to the sides of their head to give over 180° of vision. Its beak seemed normal until it opened, revealing disgustingly fleshlike fangs that merged with the inside of the beak.

A loudly neighing horse gave an annoying background sound as Logan continued to pelt the soaring beasts. Blasting the high-up avians once more each was enough to have them fall in a much more unrefined manner, dealing enough damage with two uses of Force to take them down.

Snapping his fingers, Logan had his first use of Echo Radar in combat, the sound waves bouncing off the now toppled carriage, the trees, the driver and Marcus, then eventually the multitude of vorkas. With two dead on the floor, and another erupting from the back of the carriage, Logan was treated to the sight of 5 more vorkas amongst the trees and skies, all preparing to make him their next meal.

“Let’s put the new gear to use.”

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