NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 1.3 Life is a Game
Rick was struck by a thought that just wouldn’t let go. Like a string of meat trapped in his mental teeth. Details from the earlier conversation popping in like pieces of a puzzle that didn’t quite show a full picture. Sade was looking at him strangely. His mouth was dry but his voice came out clear and quiet as he rephrased his question. “When you said before that you can ‘conjure’ fire…”
As his voice trailed off, Sade lifted her hand and a small jet of flame shot out.
“It is as I said. I will admit that it’s not the most impressive display of magic, but that is why I was going to study at Mya University in Shatak. I hoped to learn enough to gain the mage vocation.”
Mage… magic… wha.? Rick’s mind was skipping like a needle that fell off the record. He just saw fire shoot out from a naked person's hand.
He needed time to think.
“So what were you doing before I walked back?” He asked
“I was concentrating on my status, what else would I be doing after killing two vicious animals?” She said as if it were the most logical thing in the world to do.
“I’m sorry, ‘status’?” Rick asked, feeling like he was missing something and maybe clarification could help. Sade was looking at him like he hit his head just a tad too hard and now had to explain something extremely obvious.
“Yes, my status. The mental picture that shows you all your abilities and progress? Something that every sentient creature in Parva can call on. Did your family not teach you this?”
Rick felt like he was hit by a truck. Wait, did I get hit by a truck?
He knew that was a popular way for stories to send people to fantasy worlds where swords and sorcery ruled. Sade had just cast magic and was checking her ‘status’ after killing something. His mind absolutely whirled with the sudden implications and possibilities he now found himself with.
There was the possibility that this was all fake, but the fire she casually threw out would have been extremely difficult for a naked conwoman to pull off. The question was, how best to get answers without coming across as a crazy person to the people here? An idea blossomed in his mind. It wouldn’t be the most ideal solution, but it was the best he could hope to pull off.
Rick clutched his head as if he had a headache. Which, to be honest, he could swear a real one was beginning to form from all the crazy thrown in his lap just that day alone.
"Hey, you know how I said I have no idea how I got here?" Sade nodded and Rick continued. "Well it seems I've lost more than I thought. I can't remember ever being taught these things."
Her eyes grew wide. "Are you serious?" Rick nodded.
"How? Why?"
"If I knew I'd tell you."
"Can you get your memories back?"
"Maybe. But, uh, just...forgive me if I ask a stupid question?"
"I will." She said, looking at him with more than a little concern.
"Great!" Rick said. "I guess the first thing is to teach me how to summon my status." In ‘other world’ stories people who jumped worlds usually got an overpowered ability or item that they could use to great effect. Rick doubted his status would actually show anything of the sort, but just looking at his character sheet, with everything he could do quantified and labeled filled him with insatiable curiosity.
‘To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom’ after all.
Sade had him sit down in a similar manner as she was and close his eyes. She began a long and confusing lecture on focusing inward and the information would flow out in a way that he could essentially interpret as a breakdown of who he was as a person. Rick did his best to follow along but he could honestly say that most of the information just went over his head.
Still, he attempted to follow his new teacher's instructions and mentally summoned his own status. It took a while but eventually the magical information flowed out from deep within his mind, from the very core of his being.
Suddenly he knew himself in a way that few could ever dream.
| Rick | |
| Level 1 (38%) | |
| Strength: 9 | Constitution: 12 |
| Dexterity: 9 | Endurance: 9 |
| Intelligence: 12 | Resistance: 10 |
| Wisdom: 10 | Attunement : 10 (1) |
| Charisma: 9 | Luck: 15 |
| Vocation: | Intimancer (1) |
There was a lot of information to parse with just this mental stat sheet alone. He could sense the essence of who he was quantified like a character in an RPG. It wasn’t like a window screen appearing before his eyes. From what he could remember from Sade’s lecture, it was more that this was the way his mind could interpret the information the magic provided. Organizing the information in a simple table was just one of the easiest ways to visualize the knowledge gained.
He had a ton of questions bubbling in his mind. But there was one that he needed answers for immediately. “What’s an ‘Intimancer’?”
Sade perked up at his question. “Come again?” She asked while tilting her head to the side.
Rick did his best to organize his thoughts. “My status says that my vocation is ‘Intimancer’ and I have no idea what that is.” He scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “I know ‘mancer’ is a type of spell caster of some sort, but I’m having difficulty discerning the first half.”
Sade pondered the question some more. Her head tilted to the other side while her chin was cradled in between her thumb and forefinger. Eventually her shoulders sagged in defeat. “You are right about the root word for magician, but I honestly never heard of Intimancy.”
Rick’s enthusiasm fell but Sade came over to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I may not have heard of it but I have yet to start my studies. With the knowledge gathered from centuries of magical study all gathered in one place, I am sure we can find information somewhere in or around the university.” She smiled and added. “Regardless, you have a magical vocation at the first level. This means that you have an extreme innate talent for that branch of magic. This is very rare!”
Rick could feel his mood pick up after her words. Yes, he didn’t know the first thing about magic, let alone this unknown branch he suddenly found a talent in. But he could learn. He now had a tangible goal to work towards.
His whirling mind began to settle at that thought. It was as though he was adrift at sea his whole life and finally found a hint of land on the horizon. For what felt like the first time, he knew what he had to do and how to get there. He smiled at Sade. Perhaps he also found a friend to join him on this journey of discovery.
First they needed to reunite Sade with her travel companions. Hopefully they would allow him to join them on their way to the city and Sade could help him start a new life. Deep down, he secretly worried that the two would part ways. He had grown fond of the smart, capable, and fairly charming woman. He wanted nothing more than to spend more time with her.
Sade then had Rick list out his stats so she could go over what each one represented. At his request, she didn’t hesitate to explain like he was five. Most were self explanatory, especially for someone who played a role playing game or two as Rick had. Making assumptions was a bad idea most of the time, but sometimes it paid to be somewhat genre savvy.
Strength was all about his physical power, how much he could lift, how high he could jump, how hard he could throw.
Dexterity was all about his balance, coordination, reflexes, and speed.
Intelligence was the ability to learn and store information, how quickly he could analyze and solve problems, and creativity.
Wisdom was similar to intelligence but was more on proper application of what he knew. It was one thing to know how to cast a spell, but another to know when to use it, or if a situation calls for a spell at all.
Charisma rounded out the basic stats with governing the ability for someone to influence others. It wasn’t how pretty you looked but how your words, actions, or sometimes just presence just made people want to do what you want them to.
Constitution was how tough and hardy a person was, how often they got sick, or could recover from injury. It most certainly affected how much a person could drink.
Endurance was like stamina, how long a person could run without getting winded or a person's pain tolerance.
Resistance was all about a person's ability to shrug off more magical effects, but it may also influence other more mundane things. While that explanation was somewhat vague, Sade mentioned that there were entire fields of study dedicated to understanding what each stat was for and how the numbers were quantified.
Attunement was simultaneously one of the most straightforward and complicated stats. When a certain threshold was reached, the number of spells Rick could have at the ready for when he needed them. At ten points he had a slot for one known spell to be cast. This didn’t affect how many spells he could learn, just how many he could use on the fly over and over again. Sade assured him that she would teach him exactly how attunement worked and how to cast magic once they got back to the caravan.
Lastly there was luck. And both Rick and Sade were surprised at how large the number was. For most adults, a stat anywhere between eight and twelve was considered the average. For the most part all of Rick’s stats fell in that range, but his luck was at fifteen! Looking back though, Rick could admit that there were more than a few moments where things went his way in an unlikely manner. He could even assume that finding Sade was a testament to his luck, and he did indeed feel lucky to have the young woman in his life.
Sade shared her stats as well and they were quite similar to Ricks. Her strength was lower as was her constitution, but her wisdom, dexterity, and attunement were higher as if to compensate. What was interesting is that her intelligence and luck were flipped compared to Rick’s making her still quite lucky but far, far smarter than him. Given how she was teaching him so much about this new and strange place, plus already knowing a few spells without being a mage of any kind really demonstrated her brilliance.
The two chatted and ate until the sun finally disappeared and bathed the forest in darkness all around them. Eventually Rick gave a yawn and stretched. He was hit with a wave of exhaustion. The day had been one of the most emotionally draining days he had ever experienced, not even including being attacked by starving animals, and his tired mind wanted nothing more than to slip into oblivion.
Sade returned the yawn with one of her own. “Shall we retire?” She asked. Rick grunted in affirmation, threw a couple more branches into the fire and began to crawl into the shelter.
As he was laying down and trying to get comfortable, Rick looked out to see Sade raise her arms over her head and stretch as well. Rick couldn’t help but stare. The firelight lit up her bare torso with a warm glow that highlighted her flat stomach and gave just enough definition to outline the shape of her naked breasts. Her nipples were dark nubs that protruded out of the small charcoal circles of her areola. Rick could feel blood rapidly rush southward as his body finally began to react to the fact that he was staring at a naked young woman.
How in the hell had he forgotten that they were both strutting around in their birthday suits? And why did his man-brain decide to wake back up at this incredibly inopportune moment? He seriously hated how his mind worked sometimes.
Rick quickly rolled to the side facing the wall of his shelter and cupped his lower parts with both hands to hide his stiff member. He could sense Sade approach the wooden tent and stop. After a few tense moments she slowly crawled next to him, her warm skin brushing up against his back. When she finally plopped down, she also turned opposite him and Rick could feel something soft bump up against his rear end. He heard a slight squeak and then both were still and quiet.
“Goo-goodnight Rick.”
“Y-yeah, you too. Goodnight Sade.” He hated how his voice came out in a squeak near the end. Hopefully she didn’t notice. Rick was desperate to hold onto the last remaining shreds of his masculinity. Not that it did him any good before all this happened.
The two were back to back and butt to butt. Rick could feel every slight curve of her body as they pressed gently into him. She was so soft and warm, Rick just wanted to slowly caress her rear with his own, just to take in the shape and bask in how good it felt. He thought of turning around, having his body spoon her fully, taking every curve and inch against him and burying his erection between her soft cheeks.
Rick banished the thought away with every ounce of his flagging willpower. He would not force himself on the poor woman no matter how much his inexperienced body yearned to caress and explore. His erection was absolutely throbbing, swollen to the point of pain like when he first went through puberty.
But he would deny his urges. The thought of hurting Sade in any way far eclipsed the lust he felt in the moment and slowly, ever so slowly, he started to calm down. The blood flowing back up to his more rational brain.
It was as he became close to drifting off completely, his mind briefly registered the subtle shifting of Sade’s body against his. He could have sworn he heard some muffled sounds from behind him, but he paid them no mind as the day's events finally took their toll on his mind and he slipped into dreamland.