I was still looking at my status screen while the casual murder conversation was happening. Maybe I thought a neat part of my current predicament, possible magic use, would offer some sort of refuge from the not so neat part, killing things. My head was spinning with question after question, but instead of asking, I decided to just relax and run with it for now. Probably not the best choice, but it granted a temporary reprieve from the unknown and horrible.

I focused on a tree through the semi-transparent menu and I popped out of menu mode. I looked around to get an idea of my surroundings. I was standing on a dirt path in a forest. There was plenty of sunlight streaming through what looked to be pine trees. The path continued up ahead of me. I turned to look the other way and saw the small clearing I was standing at the edge of with the dying campfire. I could see only one path leading away from the campsite.

"Only one way to travel, I guess," I said as I started walking down the path so I could at least feel like I was in control of something, "I just realized that I never asked your name. What do I call you?"

The small creature looked at me as she fluttered down the path next to me, "It is a good idea to start moving. You need to start leveling up and finding gear and you can call me Mae."

When she mentioned gear I focused on the word "inventory" to see what I had. "Well, that is disappointing," I said as I saw that I had next to nothing. The inventory menu was just a large grid of squares. Only three items were shown.

Basic Shirt

Defense: 0

Equipped

Basic Pants

Defense: 0

Equipped

Basic Shoes

Defense: 0

Equipped

"You come into this adventure with next to nothing, but that makes finding loot exciting," She said seemingly trying to stay positive, "The nice thing is that your inventory is magical so you can hold as much as you want. As long as you can lift an item fully off the ground you can place it in your inventory. You never know when something will come in handy so I would loot everything you can. Also, weight is not a factor once it is in your inventory, but when you think of an item and it appears physically it will have the same characteristics as when it was placed in your inventory. You'd be better off just fiddling around with it and seeing how you can get creative with such a powerful tool."

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be great, but I still don't know about killing stuff even if it is just a game that my comatose brain is making me play. I guess I have no choice, but I don't even have a weapon," I said starting to feel pretty vulnerable.

She shushed me as we both saw a small wooden building up ahead, "Careful now. Try to quietly sneak closer and see if there are any threats."

I crouched down slightly and started sneaking closer to the building as quietly as possible. As I approached the small building that was just off the left side of the dirt path additional buildings came into view. It looked like one of those old-timey mining ghost towns. I didn't see anything moving and as far as I could tell it was abandoned.

A frighteningly loud snapping noise rang out as I stepped on a dry branch while on approach to the first building and the sound filled the silence like a gunshot. I froze.

A minute passed as I scanned all around me expecting something to jump out at any time, but nothing did. "Seems abandoned," I said sheepishly. I felt extra dumb at my lack of sneakiness since I was supposed to be a thief class.

"Well, that's one way to sneak," Mae said still scanning the area with me, "I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't something here. Keep an eye out, but you better find a weapon quick."

The door to the first small building was already open. I peeked in and saw a small bed with a footlocker at the end closest to me. I saw a faint outline around the footlocker that made it stand out from the rest of the room ever so slightly. As I focused on it I saw something that made me very happy. The word "lootable" appeared where I assumed the top of the footlocker lifted. I approached and reached out to open it, but as my hand touched the outline of it, a gridded rectangle appeared. Directly below the grid was a button that said "loot all" and I mentally clicked it.

"Good thing it wasn't boobytrapped or anything," Mae said with a look that told me I had made yet another dumb move without flat-out saying so. "Better check your inventory to see if you found a weapon. You can also mentally select specific items to get more details before adding them to your inventory individually, but loot all is also a good choice."

I opened my inventory and had three new items occupying squares in the grid. It seemed to automatically sort items by name and had tabs for types of items. I was currently on the "All" tab and examined the new items.

Lesser Healing Potion

+25 HP

Torch

Provides a medium amount of light.

Scroll of Fireball

Single-use magic scroll.

Sends a Fireball in a straight line from the user's chosen point of origin to their target area.

"Holy crap!" I said examining the parchment as if I was a kid in a parchment store, "I found a magic scroll!"

"That is a pretty common one as scrolls go. You will find a decent amount of scrolls in your time here. Too bad you didn't find a weapon you could use more than once. By the way, as your guide, I can see your menus and inventory. All three items you just picked up can be used just by focusing on them. You don't even have to have them in your hand physically. You should practice with the torch."

I focused on using the torch and it popped into my hand ready to shed some light on a situation. Then I tried putting it back into my inventory and it popped away. I checked my inventory and there it was the same as before.

"Wowza, that is mind-bending how that works," I said popping the torch in and out in different hands and in different positions all based on where I thought about it appearing. I thought about how I could get really creative with this and it put a smile on my face.

"You don't need to worry about the how. Just know it could save your life someday to know what is in your inventory and be able to utilize things creatively at the right time," she said with a wink.

I walked out of the small building and onto the main path again. There were a few buildings on either side of the road that I couldn't wait to check for loot. I walked toward the next closest building and heard a noise that made me want to wet my basic pants. It sounded like a lion or bear and it was close. I turned my head slightly to the source of the noise and saw a huge mountain lion-type creature standing at the mouth of what I assume was the mine that this settlement was built around. "I think I know why this place was abandoned," I said while frozen in place.

The big cat looked at me like I was the fanciest of feasts and did what my cat used to do when it was about to pounce. It wiggled its terrifying bottom without moving its hyperfocused head. An act I once found adorable was now the most frightening thing I had ever seen. I thought about the only thing I considered a weapon in my inventory and stretched out my hand before the cat chose to pounce. Maybe I just wanted to use magic before this weird dream ended with my demise.

A ball of fire the size of a basketball shot from my hand towards the mouth of the mine. The big cat barely had time to retreat into the cave as the ball of fire hurtled towards. Its escape attempt only provided momentary safety as the fireball followed and exploded shortly after entering the mine shaft. It seemed like a much larger explosion than that little fireball could muster, but I wasn't complaining. The mine shuddered and started to collapse in on itself.

"Must have been some dynamite or something in there," I said absently to myself as I stared at the former mineshaft entrance.

A message appeared at the top left of my vision.

200XP was awarded for defeating a large mountain lion.

"Sweet! I got it and I'm not dead," I said triumphantly with my fist completing the obligatory pump.

"Yes, you are," said Mae, as she pointed toward the mine that I then realized was still imploding fairly violently. "Run!" she yelled tugging on my sleeve to encourage locomotion.

I had been so distracted by the experience notification and the feeling of power from using magic that I didn't notice the chain reaction that had been set off by my perfectly aimed fireball.

I quickly scanned the mine entrance and surrounding area to see if we were even in danger. It was far enough away that we were safe from the force of the explosion so I thought we were safe at this point. The mine entrance was about 50 feet away at the end of the main path through town. Then I noticed to the right of the mine was a large manmade barrier. About halfway up the barrier was a log flue that went over the mine entrance and appeared to provide the town with a water source and possibly mechanically provide power to some of the processing tools.

"That is a pretty neat setup," I said still marveling at the unique design. That's when I noticed water spraying out of cracks that were forming in the barrier and flue as a result of the collapse. My legs flew into action and I ran back on the path leading to the original campsite. The log flue supports broke away with a loud crash and the weight of the flue pulled down a chunk of the barrier. Once that piece was gone it wasn't long before a torrent of water was flowing through the settlement and down the mountain. It sounded like a freight train and I was glad to have moved.

After a minute or so, I realized that we were safe to move back into the settlement and see if there was anything left to loot. I disappointedly realized there was nothing left as the torrent had torn through the entire settlement on its way down the mountain taking all but a few boards here and there. That's when the notifications started rolling in.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin scout.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin scout.

250XP was awarded for defeating an orc warrior.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin archer.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin archer.

Level up. You are now level 2.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin archer.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin warrior.

150XP was awarded for defeating a goblin warrior.

500XP was awarded for defeating an orc warlord.

300XP was awarded for defeating a goblin shaman.

200XP was awarded for defeating a goblin sentry.

200XP was awarded for defeating a goblin sentry.

300XP was awarded for defeating a goblin shaman.

Level up. You are now level 3.

The notifications kept coming for another 30 seconds or so and then abruptly stopped. All was quiet again.

"What just happened?" I asked staring at Mae and waiting for an explanation.

Mae smiled and said, "Let's just say you got over your 'no killing stuff' rule. Way over it."