My Second Life is a Quest!?

[Yuki no Yue]

[You Are Dead]​

I was catatonic. Not because I was in shock - ok, I was a little bit in shock - or because I was dead - well, that was just a lie - or because of how I had died - that had been the least surprising things of all - but because I had a game-like screen floating in front of my face, like the start of a very strange, very creepy, videogame.

Also, I didn't have a body anymore. That was, perhaps, the strangest thing. Mostly because I still felt like myself, but also... Well. Lighter. Which, yeah, it was obvious: I was a soul without a body, just floating there, in the White.

I called it White, because it was that: an endless White space, with no corners, no depth, no shading, nothing. It had the exactly same color of a blank page and it had no end that I could see. I think I had moved around, but I couldn't be sure, because, well... no depth. Also, I was a soul. As I had said before.

Ugh.

[You Are Dead]
[An Entity has decided to sponsor you]
[Do you wish to be reborn, Alexander?]​

...what?

"Reborn - wait, I can talk." I... well, I didn't blink, (no eyes. No body, really.) but I did the equivalent of it in soul form. "No, wait a moment. What Entity? And reborn where? I need details." I was... not frantic, but almost. Scared, that's obvious.

[The Entity is a neutral party]
[But they won't reveal their name or their alignent or their affiliation]
[Where you will be reborn is a surprise]
[In exchange for this, you will be compensated with the following boons]
[1) A new, healthy body, of the gender that matches your soul-form, adjusted to your destination]
[2) A power you have desired for a long, long time]​

My thoughts stalled. Like a high-pitched whine in my non-existent ears, like static filling my head.

I knew what the screens were dangling in front of me. I knew it. I had exactly one thing that I had desired for almost my entire life. My sadly mundane, boring, life.

Magic.

It was a cruel trick to play. I was already dead. I didn't know where I would end. It was entirely possible that I would be sent somewhere where death wasn't the worst thing that could happen. I didn't even know what kind of magic this mysterious Entity was planning to give me. It could be something dumb, or worthless, or just plain humiliating, or...

...or it could be the magic I wanted. The magic that I had always wanted.

The main question was if I had the bravery to take the offer... or not.

"If I refuse... what will happen to me?" I had to ask. Because... I needed to know.

[You will be sent forward, to whatever happens to human souls from your Earth]​

Curt. Almost dismissive. And to the point. It hadn't tried to threaten me into accepting the offer, or scare me with consequences. It was... almost clinical. Or maybe 'detached' was another word for it. And maybe I was trying to distract myself from the offer that had been presented to me, because I was incredibly scared and I didn't want to have to choose. I had always thought that, once I died, that would be it.

Instead, I was in front of this... Situation.

"There's... anything else that I can know? Anything?" I asked the screen, trying to find some more information. Anything.

[You will be inserted in the new world at a suitable age for your situation]​

That gave me nothing. Well, basically nothing. What did 'suitable' mean, in this context? Presumably, suitable to whatever the Entity wanted: be it an agent, entertainment, something else...

I wanted to sigh. To cry. To take a deep breath to calm myself. But I couldn't, because I didn't have a body: I was my soul, and my soul was me, and I...

"I accept."

My greed/hope/desperation/fantasy/longing/wish had got the better of me. And I was hoping that it wasn't a massive mistake.

[The Entity is pleased]
[Now, you have to design your body]
[For expediency, design it as if you had just reached maturity, as a human acknowledge it]​

Well, that wasn't what I thought it was going to happen. Especially now with how it had been worded. What did it mean with 'maturity, as a human acknowledge it'? Eighteen years old? Twenty-one years old? Twenty-five?

Probably better assume that it meant twenty-one: it was a middle point between the other two, and I was starting to feel like I was going to get a headache. Which shouldn't be possible, considering I didn't have a head or a body right now. Still...

"Long hair. Black. Slender, like a swimmer. Pale skin. Average height." I started to list, thinking. "Uh... a bit androgynous. Good looking." And I stopped there. I couldn't think of anything else. And I also realized that what I was saying would only make sense from a human's perspective: average height for who? Pale skin for what place on Earth? And...

Before my thoughts could spiral much more, another window appeared near the first one, this time showing an image.

Spoiler: Current Body - Temporary

"Oh... That's... that's good, yes." I was surprised. It was almost exactly as I would have wanted to look when I was alive. Not... that it mattered, right now.

(No, I wasn't trans, if anyone was wondering. I was - and still am, I think - gay, though.)

[Body-Temporary has been recorded as preferred]​

Ah, of course. It had said something about the body being adjusted to the destination. Best I could ask, I guess, especially in this situation.

[Boon allocation has begun.]​

What?

Then, the screen grew, and the words started jumbling together, as if it was glitching and shifting. They changed font, and size, and color, and... It hurt to look at. But I still couldn't look away. Because this... was going to be my magic.

Author Note: This is an experimental quest, where you all are going to vote not on what Alexander does, but on what happens around him. Basically, you're going to decide what situations, enemies, opportunities, obstacles, etc. And this is the very first vote for this: what kind of magic Alex get.
I'm going to present three options underneath, as examples. You can, and are STRONGLY encouraged to, create new options. The ONLY veto about the option is that it can't be something like 'body reinforcement' or similar. Nothing that would make Alex a physical fighter: it must be mainly external magic. (Shapeshifting and similar is allowed, but not as the only form of magic.)

[] Color Magic. A strange and chaotic sort of magic, that works by using a Word and a Color together (ex: Fire Red, Bird Red, Sapphire Blue, and similar) to cause effects. This is the most 'Audience-Heavy' option, as ever combination will prompt a vote to let you decide what it manifest. Once a combination of words has been created, though, it's fixed.

[] Symbol Magic. The classic magic that appears in fantasy stories. Magical circles and symbols, it takes a lot of information from medieval alchemy, pop culture, wiccan, etc. Span a lot of fields, like potion-making, enchantment, etc. This is the least 'Audience-Heavy' option, as almost all combinations will be decided by me, barring a specific intervention from a vote.

[] Concept Magic: A strange magic that is based on observing the world around and obtaining concepts to use in spells. Observing a bird could grant wings, flight, or the ability to create sounds. A rock could grant stability, or impacts. A sea the concept of water. This is the middle ground between the two other options, as the Audience would choose what kind of concept Alex will get from his observation.

[] Write In. Please keep the format above, and specify the amount of influene the Audience - you all, the voters - have on the magic. The more details you add, the better. Please.

Now, second vote: where is Alex going to end up? You can choose any franchise, even those that I don't know. Wikis exist, and I'm not above asking you all if I'm wrong about something. As before, these are just possibility, and the Audience is welcome, and encouraged, in choosing their favorite franchise. Please add the 'When' and 'Where' in the franchise Alex is going to appear.

[] Cyberpunk 2077 - Start of Videogame, V's apartment
[] Dragon Ball Z - When Goku meet the Hermit Turtle, random town
[] Game of Thrones - Before Robert's visit to Stark, Castle Stark
[] Write In - Add when and where, please

Third and last vote for this start: At what Age is Alex appearing?
[] 12 years old
[] 14 yeast old
[] 16 years old
[] 18 years old
[] Write In. Lowest I'm willing to acccept is 12

Hope you'll like this quest. As usual, I'm not going to write torture porn, grimdark, or similar. For those that are worried about the whole 'being gay' thing, I'm not planning on adding any NSFW parts, unless you all push for that. Even then, this quest isn't in the NSFW section for a reason.
Look, just be decent people, and have fun. That's all I'm asking.

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Name: Alexander
Surname: TBD
Age: 14 Years Old

Spoiler: Appearance

Concept Magic: A magic that is based on the observation of the world around the user. By observing and extrapolating various aspects, your repertoire of magics grow. You can also mix the various concepts together, adding, or subtracting, them.
Current Magics Known:

• Cold
• Shadow

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Place: White

I stared at the screen, studying the words in it. It wasn't what I expected, but it also wasn't something stupid or useless. In fact, if I understood things properly, it was... potentially really strong. With time. Which didn't mean that I would have that time, but, well... I could just hope. Still...

"Concepts. That's... an interesting kind of magic."

[You have been granted: Concept Magic.]
[Concept Magic: A magic that is based on the observation of the world around the user. By observing and extrapolating various aspects, your repertoire of magics grow. You can also mix the various concepts together, adding, or subtracting, them.]
[Sub-Magic: Enchanting (Locked), Alchemy (Locked)]
[Current Concepts Known: /]​

No freebies, uh? Sort of expected. Also, there was no real mention of how I would acquire these concepts, just... observing. Observing what, though? Anything? Or specific things? I wasn't sure. "Any explanation?"

I had asked mostly for a hope of something happening, but I didn't really expect for something to happen. Yet, an explanation appeared.

[Observation of anything and everything around, with the intent of observing, will grant insight in how a concept work. With the word 'Concept', we are talking about anything and everything that exist and can be perceived in some way. A bird in flight could grant the concept of Fly, or Wings, or Movement, or Feather, or Bird.]​

"Well... at least I'm not going to run out of things to learn anytime soon." I muttered, reading the latest message. Then, finally, the White all around me started to change: it shivered and trembled, long colorless lines streaking around the place.

"What...?" I turned my head - and I had a head. And a body. And hair, and clothes, and... everything that a male body had. Feelings came a moment later, with pressure and heat and cold and... shivering. Pinpricks, like pin and needles. And more. Slamming against me, like a truck.

I fell. And then kept falling, as another screen appeared in front of me. With more words. More information. I was barely coherent enough to read them.

[World Destination: Westeros. Before Robert Baratheon's visit to Winterfell.]
[Appropriate Age: 14 years old.]​

"What?!" I screeched, my voice reaching a pitch that was... not really masculine. "Come ON! Not there!"

Silence.

"At least it's not Brockton Bay... Or Warhammer..." I muttered to myself, before I saw the White change. It was now white. And black. And blue, red, gold, streaks of silver on blue, splashes of red and green and spring and summer, a circle around autumn and winter, before...

...I fainted.

---

---

Place: Somewhere cold. And snowy. (Wolfswood)
Time: Unknown (First day of 298 AC, barely after midnight)
Situation: Fucked

The first thing that I felt when I woke up was the cold. It was a dry and powdery sort of cold, but it made me shiver. Not too much, as I was still just arrived, and also dressed in heavy clothes. Furs, and wool, and... something like linen? I wasn't sure. But it was... appropriate to the setting. No boxers for me.

I admit that I shed a tear to that. Then, I got up - wobbling a bit, as I had just recovered a body, and also I was shorter than before - and patted myself. The pants were made of some sort of... cotton, I think. Or more wool. Maybe a mix? I didn't know. But I was pretty sure that they weren't really waterproof. So I patted the snow away. The boots were soft leather, sewn tight and didn't felt like I had to break them in.

Which was good, as getting a blister in this situation would suck. Still, they were far from the comfortable shoes that I had in the modern world, so...

"Ouch." I muttered, in pre-emptive pain, before looking around.

It was dark. But there was no wind, at least. The only light that I had was the moon, and even that was just a few patches behind the snow-heavy clouds, and the canopy of the evergreen trees that surrounded me.

There was an intense smell of pines. Along with something sharp that I could only categorize as the smell of 'coldness'.

"S-so..." I wans't shivering - yet - but it was only because of the heavy furs. And I knew that if I remained here, I would freeze to death before dawn came - assuming some other beast didn't grab me before. "Better start. While I walk. I guess. I hope. Fuck me."

Muttering to myself, I collected my hair and lifted up the hood of my jacket, covering most of my head. Only my face was uncovered, and I had a thick scarf to cover it.

"What was the rule? Waxing moon, back to the west, waning moon, back to the east?" Rubbing my gloved hands together, I tried to find a better spot to see the moon. As long as it wasn't full, I could have at least a better idea of the directions... Assuming that the moon in Westeros worked in the same way. But I was in the woods, in the dark, during a snowfall, without food or water, and with no idea where to go. The fact that I could see was already a miracle.

"If I can't find a way out, I'm going to have to dig under the snow and sleep there." Muttering to myself, I finally managed to see the moon in full, through a gap of the canopy. Full. Of course. The only reason why I didn't yell in frustration was because I didn't want to attract the attention of any beast that was around. Wolves, bears, boars... anything like that. Nope.

So, I just looked at the moon, looked around, and chose a random direction. I doubted that anyone was going to come and search for me, after all.

Direction vote: Which way I'm going? You can choose a specific city, or just a direction.
[] Write In

---

Without a watch, or a way to measure the movement of the moon, or... anything else, really, I didn't have a way to know how much time had passed. It didn't matter, I just walked forward. Slowly, trudging through the snow, using a random fallen branch as walking stick to help my movement.

It didn't help as much as I hoped, but it helped slightly. At least, it helped in not hitting a sudden rock underneath the snow. Better than nothing.

And, while I was walking, I tried the whole 'observation' thing that the screen in the White had told me. Considering the place and the situation, I focused on the snow.

I watched the way the snowflakes twirled in the air before landing. I felt how the snow compacted underneath my feet where I walked. How it formed a thin, glimmering crust where new flakes didn't reach. How it seemed to irradiate cold around itself, even if I knew that it wasn't how it worked. How it was soft. And yet sharp. How the smell of cold air was making my nose feel like it was going to bleed. It was multitudes in a single thing.

So, I walked, and observed.

How does Observation work: Once Alex has chosen a subject, the audience choose what he learns. As before, Write-Ins are welcome and encouraged. Some example of what Alex can learn from Snow: Cold, Soft, Snow, Light (Weight). Please keep the concept learned attinent to what Alex is observing.
For more complicated concepts, there may be a minimum of votes needed, or something. I haven't decided, yet. I'm open to suggestions. So...
What does Alex Learn, if anything?
[] Write In

And also, does something happens? Can be anything: pack of wolves, boars, men finding him, stumbling into the Heartwood... Your choice guys. Just remembed that Alex is me with a better body, but with basically zero ability to defend himself. If you put him against a pack of wolves, this quest is going to end very quickly.
[] Write In

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Place: Somewhere cold. And snowy. (Wolfswood... somewhere)
Time: Unknown (First day of 298 AC, three hours after midnight, seven hours to dawn)
Situation: Starting to improve slowly

I kept trying to Observe the snow that was still falling down from the dark sky, trying to grasp whatever kind of 'Concept' it could have. The main problem was, of course, that I had no idea how it worked: I was going entirely blind. Barely a hope and a prayer - to... no one, really. Just... In general - while also trying to fall into a sort of meditative state. Not that I could, I had neveer been able to meditate in my entire life. Still... It was worth a shot. If nothing else, I could distract myself before ending as a frozen corpse in the snow.

Who knew, maybe I would stumble on some bandits, while shivering to death-

[Concept understood: Cold]​

And then... I understood.

It was so much more than I could have ever thought it would be. It was just too much, too sudden, too - ehe - cold for me to- And then I was fine. Better than fine. I could feel the interaction of the movement of heat in a single direction - away from a body - and how it stopped the molecular... even the atomic movement of matter and energy. The steady march of everything towards entropy, the loss of... movement, heat, life? I didn't have the words for something that I knew intimately, as much as I knew how to breathe or how to see or smell or taste.

It just was. And I knew how to...

My hand lifted upwards, up to my eye level, before I closed my fist. There was a rush of energy - Magic - from the center of my body. Something lower than my heart, but higher than my stomach, something around my sternum, or behind my lungs, but deeper as well. It wasn't coming from my navel, nor from my head. And not from just one point, either. It was more that it came from my entire body, collected in that unspecified point inside my body, and then moved to my hand when I called upon it.

A moment later, I stopped getting colder. Somehow.

I knew how it was working, to... a certain level. I was using my mana - well, whatever energy magic used to happen. Lacking a better word for it, I was using mana - to stop the heat from escaping my body. Or, in other words, I was stopping myself from getting colder. Which is not something I thought I could do. But, apparently, I could.

It was awesome. And strange. But mostly awesome. Then...

"Am I going to cook myself from the inside out?" Blinking, I looked down at myself. If the heat couldn't escape my body, but it kept building... In theory, I would end up slow cooked. Like a steamed piece of chicken.

Shivering in fear, and shaking my head to dispel the images that had come into my head, I returned to my walk. I had no idea where I was going, or if I was even going somewhere, but, well... Remaining still in the middle of a forest at night didn't sound like the best idea, when you knew that no one was coming to search for you.

---

---

Place: Somewhere cold. And snowy. (Wolfswood... somewhere)
Time: Unknown (First day of 298 AC, four hours after midnight, six hours to dawn)
Situation: Tired

I was tired. Which, hey, it made sense: I had been walking in tall snow for the last... I don't know how long. The only thing I knew was that the snow was high enough that I could have been skiing on it, if I had a pair of skies.

My attempts to add more 'Cold' to the snow to freeze it and make a sort of... sled, or something like that, didn't work. Somehow it either came out too slippery, exploded into shards - which, beyond being pretty, were also pretty sharp - or, in one occasion, made a sapling explode as I brought the internal temperature of the tree low enough that the sap froze and expanded all at the same time.

That... made me think of doing the same thing to a human body, and I decided that I didn't want to think about it anymore. After that, the experimentation had been shelved and I kept walking. In the dark. And the snow. But I wasn't cold.

Also, for some reason, but I chalked it to 'Required Secondary Powers', I didn't cook myself by stopping the heat from escaping my body. Either that, or I hadn't produced enough heat to cook myself alive, but was working towards it.

For the sake of my mental health, I chose to call it the first option and shelve the whole thing.

...

It was really boring, walking in the forest at night. Sure, at first there was the mortal terror, the fact that I was sure, in the way someone walking in complete darkness in an unfamiliar place, that someone or something would pounce on me and savagely rip me to shred, or the panic of getting lost and dying of thirst and starvation in the middle of a forest... And I was starting to work myself up to a panic attack, so better focus on what I was thinking before.

It was boring. After a while, the human mind can't keep pumping the panic-chemicals and adrenaline and stress chemicals and whatnot: it has a finite supply. So, I went into a sort of... half-bored, half-stressed lull, where I kept walking, hoping to find something. Someone. Somewhere.

Anything, really. I don't deal well with boredom.

Fortunately, just as I was startingo to consider how I could use semi-controlled Cold application to section one of these enormous trees - or more than one - to build a half-working shelter, I stumbled onto a clearing in the middle of the creepy, dark woods.

It was almost something out of a movie: the trees opened into a clearing that didn't have any trees, but a dilapidated... Hut? Cabin? I'm gonna call it a 'hut', less horror movie vibes than 'cabin'. It was made of wooden logs, that looked between 'frozen' and 'well kept'. However, it had a hole in the roof, where it had collapsed due to the snow accumulating over it, and no windows. Well, no, it had windows, but it didn't have any glass. Instead, there was some sort of wooden slats, similar to a shutter - covering the openings. The door... was there. Sort of. It was there, but it was half open, for some reason.

All in all, it looked like the classic abandoned hut. If it was an erborist's hut, an hunter's hut, or the refuge for some smugglers, I had no idea. Still, it was a shelter. Even if it was in bad condition, it was still a shelter. It was more than what I had before a moment ago.

The insides were dark, as the only light came from the hole in the roof and what little reflected light the snow gave through the windows, and covered in dust. No cobwebs or bugs: with the cold that was in here, they were all probably underground or... wherever they made their nest. Beyond that, I could see a crude square chest - no metal fittings or locks, which was... an interesting detail - secured with a frozen leather cord, a couple of chairs, and the frame of a bed. And a firepit in the center of the building.

It was cold. In more than one sense. It was cold like a dead things is cold: empty, devoid of movement and purpose and life. My first steps left tracks in the frozen layer of snow and dust inside the hut, two perfect shapes, before the floor turned clean enough that my imprints couldn't be seen anymore, beyond a vague outline in the dust.

Testing the wooden slat that probably had held a mattress, I found it built sturdy and still solid, so I sat down and breathed for a moment. Just... a minute.

---

Getting back up after sitting down had been particularly hard: my legs felt like they were made of lead. Still, I managed: there was a chest to check. I didn't think that there would be anything useful inside, but who knew: maybe I could get lucky.

...I wonder if there was a way to get the concept of 'Luck'...

...

Probably not. I felt like it was something too complicated and too high level for me, right now. Still... Need to keep it in mind. Just in case.

The chest had... nothing useful. A few pieces of leather, rotting cloth that was once a cloack, some firewood - not much, just a couple of logs and a few branches - underneath, and... that was it. Nothing more. No treasure, no secret compartment, nothing. And yes, I checked. Just in case.

My eyes slid towards the firepit for a moment. Should I try to light a fire? If I managed, I could get the 'Fire' concept, or... something like that. The main problem was... I had no way to light a fire. Or...

I looked down at the smaller branches. There was one way, maybe. Maybe. If rubbing branches together to create enough friction to make a fire worked...

"Nah." Shaking my head, I checked the chest one last time, moving the leather and cloth on the bedframe. Maybe there was something hidden under the wood: a piece of flint, a knife, something...?

---

Nothing.

"Not my lucky day, uh?" I hummed to myself, before trying to adjust the improvised bedding materials to offer at least a little bit of softness. Not that it worked, but, well... worth a shot.

Lying on the old bedframe, only rotten cloth and leather as a mattress, I looked towards the logs that formed the roof. There was a chance that they were weakened - structurally speaking, for all that I knew about it - and they would fall and crush me. With a bit of luck, it would be a quick death.

Still... I observed the 'Darkness'. As much as it's possible to observe something like that. I tried. And kept trying.

Until I fell asleep.

My first night in Westeros had passed, and I was still alive. For now.

Voting options:
Alex is currently observing 'Darkness'. Does he learn any concept?
[] Yes
-[] Write in what concept he learns
[] No

Does anything happens in the morning?
[] Yes
-[] What? Remember, you are not choosing Alex's actions, only what is happening to him.
[] No

What's the closest town/city to him?
[] Write In

Sorry for not giving a whole week, but I got excited. Hope you liked the update.

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Time: Night
Place: Abandoned Hunter's Hut
Situation: Fucked

---

Still... I observed the 'Darkness'. As much as it's possible to observe something like that. I tried. And kept trying.

Until I fell asleep.

My first night in Westeros had passed, and I was still alive. For now.

---

How could someone observe darness? It... Darkness wasn't something - Kingdom Hearts notwithstanding - but it was hte lack of something. An absence. How can you observe the absence of something?
And I just realized that I have answered my own question. You start by realizing that something is missing, then you start analyzing that. Or, at least, that's how I interpreted the whole thing. So, I started thinking and looking at the wavering darkness on the ceiling. Slowly, it resolved into more distinct, even if still abstracted, shapes. Degrees of black onto the dusty brown-grey of the semi-frozen wood that formed the ceiling.

The fact that the 'bed' I was laying on was extremely uncomfortable didn't help, but I was tired enough that I just ignored it as much as possible.

Still, I kept my eyes trained on the ceiling, watching how the darkness shifted and changed, how it lengthened, stretched, turned shorter, or deeper, and all of sudden I realized that I was looking at the shadows of the trees outside, when...

[Concept Understood: Shadow]​

...the meaning of what a shadow was slammed into my head. Contrary to before, I fainted right away, both my tiredness and the effort of learning two concepts so fast, so close to each other too much for me. Yet? Or ever? I didn't know.

I just knew that the shadows greeted me when I fell asleep.

---

---

Time: Morning/Mid-Morning (First day, First month, 298 AC)
Place: Abandoned Hunter's Hut (Wolfswood)
Situation: Alive. Not Cold

I would like to say that I woke up slowly, as the cobwebs of sleep and dreams kept my eyelids closed and my mind muddled, but I can't. Because I felt something cold, wet, and cold press against the skin on my side, insistently. I screeched, a high-pitches sound, jumping up in surprise and fright.

"What the-!?" Looking around, my eyes fell onto a... wolf? dog? mix?

I only knew that he was big, packed with muscles, a sable and white coat, sharp white fangs, and deep amber eyes that glittered like gems in the morning light. And that he was looking at me with an unnatural intelligence.

Or, at least, he had been intelligent enough to find the only spot of my body that my clothes didn't cover enough to stop the freezing nose to reach my skin. And give me a big enough fright to definitely wake me up.

"Ok..." I managed to say, curling on myself and trying to stay away from the... wolf/dog that was looking at me with a curious gaze, but also had a lot of fangs. "Nice... wolf and/or dog... I'm not good to eat..." No, I didn't know what I was saying, I was just trying to speak in a soothing, calming tone, as I didn't have a way to remove the wolf/dog from this place that wasn't lethal. And I didn't want to kill an animal, unless I was going to die suddenly.

The wolf/dog 'boofed', putting his paws on the bedframe and leaning forward to sniff at my face, tongue lolling and eyes glittering. I leaned back.

There was the smell of blood in the air.

I would say that my blood ran cold in my veins, but I couldn't be cold. Not even from that. Still, it was a strange feeling, knowing that I was terrified, but that I wasn't paralyzed by the feeling. It was unnatural, and I didn't like it. My body didn't know how to understand it.

I didn't know how to understand it. In fact, I moved from terrified to confused all of sudden, remaining still. Just... like I was rebooting my mind, looking straight in front of me. Until I saw the wolf/dog come closer. And open his mouth. In a moment, I understood what it was going to do.

"No." I didn't shout, but I did push the wolf/dog backwards, one hand on his nose. "Don't lick me. I'm a cat person. Don't you dare." He was pushing his nose against my hand, trying to reach my face, tongue lolling out, a dopey doggy grin on his face, his tail wagging violently behind him. "No, no, I don't want to be licked, keep your tongue to yourself, don't you dare...!"

"Heel, Buddy." The voice - masculine, deep, scratchy, old - took me by surprise. And the wolf/dog. In fact, the animal turned his head towards the man that had just entered the ruined hut. He was a stocky man, built solid, dressed in grey, dark blues and browns, a small shield embroidered on his chest, in brown with three green trees, with a hunting bow on his back, what looked like the sheathe of a knife or a sword at the belt, at least three knives that I could see, the quiver for the bow, and the pouches hanging at the belt. And the two dead rabbits hanging on a rope, tied by their hindlegs. "Don't bother the..."

The man - the hunter - gave me a long look, and I gulped. And I was still pushing the dog away. "The lad." And he nodded, clicking his tongue sharply. The dog - Buddy? - whined and turned to look at the hunter, boofing again, low and pleading. Only to get a second click of the tongue and a sharp, staccato whistle, which made the dog whinte even more, the tail drooping down. He even gave the hunter a second, pleading look.

It did nothing, except make the hunter sigh. "No, Buddy. That stopped working after two months. Heel." The dog stopped whining and sat down near the hunter's feet, somehow looking grumpy, but not as sad as before.

Smart dog.

"Ah... thank you?" I managed to say, uncurling a little, while rubbing my hands against my trousers. More from nerves than anything else. "I'm... Alex."

"Alex." The hunter looked at me, studied me. But he didn't seem to be particularly cruel, or predatory, or... anything else, really. Just... observing. Of course, I knew that it didn't mean anything, but, well... I could hope that things would go well, and wouldn't end with me dying horribly.

...slavery was banned in Westeros, right?

"I'm Emmon." The hunter - Emmon - said, taking a step forward, slowly enough that it was clear that it wasn't some sort of threat, but also self-assured enough that made it clear that he didn't consider me a danger, and cocked his head to the side. Buddy, the dog, did the exact same thing. It was a bit eerie. And also a bit funny.

"Emmon of Torrhen's Square. And from where do you hail, Alex? Why is a child of no more than two and ten years in an old, abandoned hut in the middle of the Wolfswood? The first day of the new year?"

It was the first... Really. I would have looked upwards, unimpressed about it, if it wasn't for the fact that there was Emmon here. Also, I had no idea what or where Torrhen's Square was. I was guessing a town or village or something like that. Still...

I could just tell the truth. Well, some of the truth.

"I... come from nowhere, have nowhere to go. I have no one that I can call father, mother, family, in this world." I tried to keep my voice as toneless as possible. Not sure if I managed. "And I don't know where I was: I found myself in the middle of the forest, alone, without food or water, and I just walked until I found this hut. So I went to sleep. And I'm four and ten, not two and ten." Dumb way to count years, but that was just my opinion.

Emmon looked at me, a look of profound skepticism on his face. Still, he didn't say anything. But I could... No, I could imagine what he was thinking, but I couldn't know for sure, and whatever I could imagine would be tainted by my biases. Better to not judge before having at least a solid idea.

"Nowhere to go. Nowhere to go back to." Emmon hummed, one hand going to a small knife at his belt, fingertips tapping at the handle, absentmindedly. It was more of a tic than a threat, or at least I hoped so. "Ye know how that sound, lad, yeah? Awfully suspicious."

I gulped a little, trying to not start to cry in fear, or attempt to use what magic I knew: I didn't want to kill someone that hadn't hurt me, or done anything to me, and using Shadows when I hadn't had the chance to understand how to use them was just a recipe for disaster.

"I... I know. But it's the truth. There's no one around here that will claim me as part of their family. I can swear this." Licking my lips, I fidgeted a little to not squirm too much, fingers twisting together. Emmon hummed again.

"Say that I believe you, lad. Still doesn't explain why you're here. And how you're not frozen stiff. Or shivering." He took another step forward, his hand firming on a different, bigger knife. I gulped, before my mouth fell open, wondering what to say to salvage a situation that I hadn't even notice that it was spiraling down towards a possibly deadly confrontation, when....

GGRRRUUURRGGHHH...

I froze and turned red, not in panic, but in embarassment: my stomach chose that moment to grumble, as I hadn't eaten anything since last night, and now that it was already late morning, I was starting to feel hunger.

'This is how I die. Not by blade or arrow, but by embarassment.' I thought, eyes wide, face reddening more and more with every moment it passed.

Emmon, however, stopped for a moment, before he emitted a loud, long, belly laugh, head thrown back, one hand on his own stomach. That was even more embarassing.

"Here, lad." He took out a square of something from his pouch and threw it at me. "Traveler's ration. Will hold you up until we're back at Torrhen's Square. You can stay at my house for a night, at least. Then we'll see what to do with you. Come, Buddy." And Emmon turned and started walking out of the hut. I followed him: I didn't really have any other option, not realistic ones, anyway.

So, I followed behind the much taller hunter. And... wow. I was really short, against him. Curious.

So, that's what happened. For now. Now, up to you: What does happen? Is Emmon trustworthy? Or does he have something in mind? I don't know. You all can choose, though.
[] Write In (Example of possible votes: social position, if he's tricking Alex or not, if he's going to ask for something back or not, anything that would fits with a hunter.)

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Time: Morning/Mid-Morning (First day, First month, 298 AC)
Place: Abandoned Hunter's Hut (Wolfswood)
Situation: Better than before, provisionally

After the embarassment with my growling stomach, and the piece of food - it had helped, that was for sure - I found myself walking behind Emmon and Buddy, the snow compact enough that I didn't had to dig myself out every time I tried to take a step. Buddy kept bouncing around, sniffing every tree and bush and snow-covered mound, while Emmon had a sort of quiet intensity to him. He didn't talk or say anything else, nor to comfort me - not that I expected him to - or to question me further - that, I expected him to - or... for anything else, really.

He just kept walking. Funnily enough, he was walking almost the opposite I was going for, to the south, which was... Yeeesh. I was going to get myself killed by either wolves, beasts, or hunger, if I hadn't met Emmon. I was basically walking straight towards the middle of the Wolfswood.

Wait, excuse me: I was walking towards the EDGE of the Wolfswood. Apparently, the trees we were walking through were not even the Wolfswood proper, but just the small amount of trees that formed what Emmon called 'small woods'.

Yeah, I had asked him about it when I asked how deep in the woods we were. Sue me, I don't like too much silence.

My expression when Emmon had laughed in my face was probably really funny. Then, he proceeded to tell me that, even if he had called it the Wolfswood, we weren't really inside the Wolfswood proper. No, that forest was much more dangerous. The trees were taller, the canopy so thick that the sky was completely obscured, and the beasts would make a meal out of me - and himself, so dangerous they were.

That made me lapse into silence once more, leaving only the crunch of the snow underneath our boots and the sound of Buddy's boofs and whines when he wanted to remain to sniff someplace and Emmon forced him to move with a quick and sharp 'tchk' of his tongue.

Spoiler: The North's Map

After some more time, I finally managed to find my voice again.

"Why... are you helping me?" I wasn't speaking too loud, but the silence was such that Emmon heard me perfectly. And scoffed.

"Not from the goodness of my heart, lad. But my ma' didn't raised a brute that would leave someone as lost as you in the middle of the woods for the wolves to snack off." And, almost perfectly on time, the howling of the wolves echoed in the distance. Emmon nodded towards the direction we had come from, like he was trying to make his point stronger.

"I'm not a lord, either. I'm only bringing you to Torrhen's Square. If you want to stay in my home beyond the single night I promised you, you'll have to work to repay me." His voice was gruff and no-nonsense. I could understand the point that he was making, though: as he said, he wasn't a lord. And, to my very limited knowledge, this was a world where either you worked, or you didn't eat.

Again, unless you were a lord of some kind.

"I'm not sure what kind of repayment you want from me." Maybe it was stupid on my part - scratch that: definitely. - to ask that, but I wanted to know before we reached the town. As badly as it made me feel, I was more free to try and defend myself here than in a busy town where Emmon had, presumably, several people that knew him.

"I can...." What could I do that was valuable? Well, I knew that I could read and write the language of this place. That was something? "I can read and write. I can clean, can cook a little, I can try baking..." Licking my lips, I tried to think of more that I could do. Sadly, I couldn't.

"Cleaning and cooking, uh? I wouldn't have said it from your clothes. And your hands." Emmon's voice drew me out of the down spiral my thoughts were going into, bringing my attention back to him. And to the fact that we were reaching the edge of the wood. "Frankly, if you weren't dressed like that, I could see you in a brothel as the prize whore."

...That...

"I'm... not sure if it's a compliment or not..." I muttered, avoiding a root half-submerged in the snow. Emmon snorted.

"It's a compliment: no scars, no calluses, no missing teeth, no sickness marks, high-quality clothes... I could mistake you for a noble-born brat, if it wasn't that you have no resemblance to any House that I've ever heard of, and you have no noble symbol on you." Then, he whistled, high and sharp, calling Buddy back to his side. The dog came bouncing between the trees in a moment. I hadn't even noticed that he had moved away.

And that was at my back.

"Lighten up, lad. I'm not going to sell you to a brothel." Emmon turned and smiled. He didn't have one tooth in the back of his mouth, on his left side. I hadn't noticed it before. "I'm not that kind of man. Some, however..." And he shrugged, before taking the last step outside the wood. A plain of snow and hills stood in front of us, almost blinding under the noon sun.

"Almost there. Couple hours."

I kept following him. Even if I was a bit alarmed. And worried. But, realistically, I didn't really have any good choice here: either I followed Emmon to Torrhen's Square, or I tried to escape a hunter in the woods. A hunter with a hunting dog. And a weapon.

Yeah, that sounded dumber and dumber the more I thought about it.

---

---

Time: First day, First month, 298 AC, Two hours after noon
Place: Torrhen's Square
Situation: Confusing

Torrhen's Square was... square.

No, it wasn't a joke: it really was mostly square. Or, at least, the walls gave that impression: they were tall, made with squared bricks, and ended with two towers at the corner - both square towers - while the gate to enter was also squared. Made of eavy wood and metal bands, it had two guards in front - such a clichè, right? And yet, they were really intimidating to me - that were chatting with other people. Some were clearly hunters, but others... There was a big guy with a shorter - but still big - guy near him with a cart filled with wooden logs and branches, a couple of people that were walking out of the gate, several with a hand-pulled cart...

"Market day just ended." Emmon said, after looking at my expression of what probably was marvel. "Several people live in the nearest village." He waved towards the cart-pulling ones. "And some are returning from the wood like us."

Kind of him to explain. Also, there was a heavy undertone of 'don't speak unless spoken to', so I just shut up and observed. And Observed.

Just in case.

Does Alex learn anything from the situation?
[] Yes, Write In
[] No

---

"Emmon? You came back fast." One of the guards walked towards our position, his words directed to the hunter, but his eyes fixed on me. He was studying me, that much was clear. I didn't say anything. Frankly, I doubted I could say anything, even if I tried.

"Yeha, something happened." Emmon said, one hand landing on the guard's shoulder, before he moved a few steps away. And they started whispering - well, talking with a lower voice. Low enough that I couldn't hear them, anyway. Buddy butted his head against my legs, making my blink and look down to the dog, who looked up at me with a doggy grin on his muzzle.

It made me feel better, even if I was a cat person.

Then, after a few minutes, the duo came back, the guard's face neutral, while Emmon was... also neutral. Ok, then.

"So, Emmon tells me that you found yourself in the wood. You claim to have no family that would call you their own. And that you don't know where you were going. Is that correct?" The question felt a bit pointed, but I just shrugged and nodded, still a bit too scared to talk. The guard - he hadn't introduced himself - just looked me up and down once more, clearly skeptical. And yet...

"And you have no money with you." I shook my head. "Mh."

Silence started, only broken by the sound of the other people walking around, chatting, walking, living. I could feel the cold sweat slide down my back, even as my throat closed from the anxiousness and fear. Then, the guard nodded.

"Ok. You two can pass." And, without saying anything else, he turned and walked back towards his post. I blinked, stupefied, before turning towards Emmon, who was already walking towards the inside of the town. Hurrily, I followed him.

"How..." Hissing a soon as we were far enough from the gate, I sped up until I was walking at Emmon's side. "What... did you tell him?" I had to stop and lick my lips in the middle of the sentence, as it felt like my mouth was stuffed with cotton. Emmon just looked at me with a dry expression on his face.

"The truth, lad. You hardly did anything illegal." And then he kept walking, Buddy at his side, suddenly looking like an incredibly well trained hunting dog. I remained a few steps back, stock still, blinking in surprise.

That had been an option?

---

Torrhen's Square was... well, really: the only word that I could think of when I saw it was 'square'. Even inside, the buildings were made of stone, with slanted roofs, chimney smoke coming out from almost every house. There was a castle at the back of the town, where the wall joined behind, but, from what I managed to see in the brief walk to where Emmon lived.

Emmon's house was a squat building near the castle - surprisingly near the castle, actually, for someone that had called himself a 'common hunter' - and it looked lived in. Well kept, with heavy wooden slat in the singular window that gave to the street, and smoke coming out of the chimney. The door was closed, to keep out the chill - chill that I couldn't feel, thanks to my magic - but Emmon just opened it, before stomping his boots on the step outside. Buddy ran inside, barking happily.

"Ma', I'm back. We got a guest." And, with that call, he walked in. I followed, after removing the snow from my boots in the same way that he had done.

The inside of the house was... small. Well, obviously: it was a single room, with a stove, a squat fireplace, and a door in the back wall. I could also see a stairway going up near the door in the back, and a trapdoor near the stove. Frankly, the layout was pretty strange. But I wasn't going to comment on it: I was a guest. And the idea of being tossed on the street because I had been less than polite was scary.

A short woman came out of the door in the back: she was dressed in sturdy and practical clothes, all green, with a heavy-looking apron covering most of it. Her face was wrinkled, but robust, while her grey hair still had strands of the original brown, visible even in the tight bun she had tied them. Her hands were wrinkled, but calloused and strong, and she immediately clocked my presence. She didn't smile, but neither she threw me out, so... first impression was good?

"Ma', this is Alex. Found him in the abandoned hut in the small wolfwood. He's alone." With a shrug, Emmon took a rag hanging near the fire and started rubbing Buddy's body. It looked almost reharsed. "He was completely lost, I offered him a bed for tonight."

I was still near the entrance: frankly, I wasn't sure what was happening here. It looked like Emmon was telling his mother what he had decided, but there also was a strange... feeling, like he was asking permission for what he had decided. I didn't say anything, and just blinked.

The woman looked at Emmon for a moment, before looking at me. I stiffened under her gaze, before gulping and bowing towards her. "G-greetings Ma'am."

"I'm no ma'am." Her voice was a little raspy, but... well, solid. With a lilt to her words that I couldn't really place. "Just a laundress. Enter, close the door. Let me look at you." She gestured to me to come inside, so I obeyed, closing the door behind me, before moving towards her. Then, she started to observe me. Carefully.

"Why's a noble in the middle of the wolfswood, in a hunter's hut?" Her words were direct, almost sharp, but I shook my head.

"I'm no noble. I'm just... Someone without a family, lost and without an idea on what to do." She scoffed at that, but didn't say anything against it, even if it was clear that she didn't believe me. And, after what Emmon had told me at the gate, I could understand why. Still...

She was pretty tall for a woman. Taller than me, at least. Not by much, but still taller than me.

"Well, you can stay the night. We'll see if you can pay your stay for the next days." I nodded again in thanks, before looking at Emmon. He was still watching me.

What happens in the next days? Just so you know, Alex can cook simple dishes, can bake simple things, and can do normal housechores, at least with modern items. But he can learn fast. Still...
[] Write In what happens. Up to three options, higher voted wins.

 

[Yuki no Yue]

Time: Secondday, First month, 298 AC, Early Morning
Place: Torrhen's Square
Situation: Improving...?

The food last night had been stew. With some small, hardy vegetables - root vegetables, mostly - and some tough meat. Hardly a banquet, but it was food, and I was hungry, so it was fine for me. Oh, and some hard bread. Then, I got handed an old quilt, a sack to use as a pillow, and given a place to sleep near the fire. That was that.

Well, to be fair, it was more than what I had yesterday, so... Eh.

In the morning, the cold surprised me. Well, not because I was cold - in fact, I was actually feeling a bit hot - but because I could tell how cold it was. Enough to turn breath to mist, and to have completely covered the house with snow. It was hard to open the shutter of the window, even.

"It's impressive." "Aye. But also deadly. If you were still in that hut, you would be frozen solid." Emmon's voice made me stiffen in surprise, before I turned towards him. He was already dressed and walking towards the door, one piece of bread in his hand. "I'm off. Ma' will be the one to decide if you can stay or not." And then, without saying anything else, he walked out, Buddy going with him.

Pretty striaght forward. Better start to ingratiate myself to the woman, then.

My gaze went to the hearth, but I had no idea how to start a fire without some kind of tools. Still, if there were enough embers remaining.... There was a poker near it, and, after a couple of moments to dig inside it, I found two or three embers still hot, faintly glowing in the ashes.

"Lucky." I passed my hand over the coals, removing the [Cold] from them. Or, well, stopping them to lose heat? I didn't know how to say it: it was a feeling that I had stopped the coals from getting colder, and that was that.

Then, I removed the ashes that had accumulated during the night, pouring them into a bucket that already had some in it, only to grab a few of the small sticks held in a basket at the side of the heath, and dropped them over the embers, before placing two bigger logs to the side, bracketing the whole thing. Hoping that I was doing it properly, at least. Still, the sticks caught fire soon after, so I could add the bigger branches to them.

After that... Looking around, I noticed how Emmon's mother was standing there, arms crossed, looking at me. Somehow, I felt myself redden in embarassment, only for her to come closer, and look at what I had done. "Well... It's not the best way to make a fire, but it's something." "Uh... wha-thanks?"

She rolled her eyes, and adjusted the logs to do... something. I didn't know. Then, she hung a kettle over an iron hook - it reminded me of the Snow White cartoon, where she cooked the dwarf's dinner - and started boiling some herbs. Their version of tea, I guessed: it had a sharp scent of mint, somehow cold even if it was cut by something hearthier, like black tea.

Then, she took some bacon and eggs from a cupboard, before grabbing a heavy cast iron pan. "Sit down, lad. I'm not that heartless to let you go without a breakfast." I obeyed: she gave the feeling that you didn't want to go against her.

"So. Do you really have no family around, or are you running from someone?" Ma' Yara - that was her name - asked, dropping a cube of... I think it was lard? Definitely not butter. Some sort of fat on the hot pan, letting it render down into an oily film, before dumping the bacon and the eggs on it.

I gulped, but shook my head. "No. I'm really alone. And I know how it sounds, but I'm not a noble running from a marriage that I disliked, or away from a crime, or... anything like that. I'm just alone." The flames were dancing in the hearth, the smell of tea was growing, and the food in the pan was starting to fill the room with the smell of cooked food, that my stomach grumbled with hunger.

"So you say." She didn't look convinced. Still, she dropped the argument, pivoting to something more practical. "Emmon said that you can read and write. That true?"

I blinked, before nodding. "I can read, write, do simple math..." I hated geometry when I was in school. "I do have some small experience in baking, and I can clean things. Well, simple things. Beyond that, I don't have a lot of... experience."

"And what's your age, lad?" Her question felt pointed, but I answered all the same.

"Four and ten." She looked at me again, her expression skeptical, before gesturing at me to grab the bowls to eat breakfast. I thanked her and stared eating slowly, before she put down a small container of honey and a mug of tea. I nodded to her in thanks, before starting to eat. The food was good, filling and hearty. And also, I was hungry, so...

"If you can really do all that, there's a baker that need help. He can test you." Yara spoke, calmly, sipping at her tea. "And he's not as soft as my Emmon." Emmon was considered soft? "So, better be ready to back up what you said with facts."

Silence. I felt the food in my stomach feel suddenly heavier. "Still, if you aren't lying, he's going to pay you fairly for the work he has you doing. We're not like those Southerners." I blinked at that: it was a change of tone that I didn't expect.

I did manage to eat my breakfast without too much worry, though, so... Yay?

---

"Oh, Yara! You're early today!" The baker was a tall man - which seemed to be the norm - with fair skin, large shoulders, a somewhat chubby look to him, if it wasn't for the way I could see his clothes bunch at the shoulders, arms, and forearms: this guy was eating well, sure, but also had muscles. Lots of muscles.

Well... without modern conveniences, it would make sense: baking involved a lot of work: kneading, rolling, stretching the dough... especially in the quantity needed for a bakery.

"Hello Donnis. How's your son?" She was speaking in a more...conciliatory tone? No, more familiar. I just stood there, a step or two behind her, looking around the place: it had a lot of bread, but not much more. Which made sense. Still, I would have expected cookies, or something like that. But no.

...Did cookies even exist in Westeros?

"Same old, Yara. Now that he managed to enter the guards of House Tallhart, he's almost always there. That idiot lad of mine." Donnis' voice was gruff - didn't really have another way to say it - and I think I could detect a small amount of hurt in it. Then, he turned towards me, and I stiffened. "And who's that?"

Rude.

"Alex. Emmon found him in the abandoned hunter's hut yesterday morning. Was sleeping there." Yara answered, while examining the bread that the man had passed her. "He says that he has no one, swear that he's not a noble, and tells me that he can read, write, and do calculations." Donnis' expression was clearly filled with disbelief, before he snorted at the end.

"And he say that he's not a noble?" His tone was disbelieving, with an undertond of harshness that... frankly, it made me bristle. So, I took a step forward. "I'm not a noble."

Both turned towards me. "I'm not a noble! Why would I be in the middle of a forest, sleeping in an abandoned hut, if I was a noble?" I crossed my arms. "And if I was a noble, why would I go around telling people that I can read and write and do math? That would be absurd." Really.

The two stood in silence for a moment, looking at me, before Yara sighed. "Well, that's true. And you don't look like an idiot."

...I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult.

"Anyway, Donnis, since your son is off to play guard, you needed a helper in the bakery, yes?" "Yeah, why... him?" Donnis asked, looking at me. "He looks like he should be in a brothel." That was the second time that someone had said that. I still wasn't sure that it was the compliment that Emmon had said that it was.

"Give him a try." Yara shrugged, packing the bread away. "If he's not good enough, you don't lose anything. And if he is, you get the helper you needed." Impeccable logic, really. Still, Donnis didn't look particularly convinced.

In the end, however, Yara managed to have her way, forcing Donnis to take me on for the day, before walking out. "That woman..." The baker shook his head, before looking at me. I looked back. "Well, whatever. Let's see if you're as good as you say you are." And then I was suddenly being dragged deeper inside the bakery, in the back. The place was covered in sacks of flour, pails of water, a collection of jars of what I think it was yeast or sourdough starter, and various containers with something inside. If I had to guess, salt and sugar... oh, right. Sugar was probably too expensive. Honey, maybe?
And there was a big oven in the back, from where the heat of a fire came.

"Here." And he pushed me on a chair. The table in front of it was covered in scrap of papers, and there was a big book near it, bound in leather. "These are the amounts of coins that I got in the last tenday. You're going to add everything up. Then, I'll check to see if it's correct." I looked at Donnis, then down at the amount of paper on the table. Then back at the man.

"Can I have a piece of paper and something to write with?" Honestly, the whole thing was simpler than I thought. It was just going to be long. Donnis' eyebrows lifted a bit, but he gave me another piece of paper and a charcoal pencil.

"Here. I'll be back in a couple hours. Try to finish everything by then." I blinked, surprised: a couple of hours for all of this? I mean, the table was covered, but it wasn't that much. Still, i didn't say anything and started working.

On each piece there was the date, and the amount, so I split the various... eh, let's call them receipts. The various receipts by date, then I started adding things up. The coinage tripped me up for a moment, but then something clicked, and I just... Well, I knew how many Copper pennies were in a Silver stag, and how many Silver stags were in a Gold dragon. It was an absurd number, but it was there. After that, it was just adding everything together.

I was done in less than... actually, I had no idea. Still, I was done. So, I looked at the door to the shop part of the bakery, and went to check if Donnis was free. There were no people at the moment, so I just knocked before exiting the room.

"What?" He turned towards me, already crossing his arms and scowling. "You're going to tell me that you can't-" "I'm done." I interrupted him before he could start a tirade. "With the calculations, I mean. I've finished."

Donnis blinked, surprised, before his eyes narrowed in suspicion. And he strode inside, muttering something too low for me to hear, taking great steps towards the table, before sitting down - heavily - and starting to check my calculations. He was... kinda slow.

So, I just stood there, unsure on what to do, while he kept going. Slowly. So slowly.

Then... "Well..." His voice was... not embarassed, but clearly calmer. "Seems that you were telling the truth. Your math is correct." Well, good to know. "I'm in need of an assistant. Pay will be a Stag per day of work. Your job will be to take care of the ledger each morning, tallying the expenses and purchases of the previous day."

I accepted without saying anything else: it's not like I had any other option. And that was that, for it.

Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring. We're still in the 'setting' stage of the quest. Anyway, next update will have the meeting with the 'friend' you wanted for him. So, you have to vote XD
[] Name
[] Age (14 to 18 years old)
[] Lifestyle (Apprentice, noble brat, guard, anything that would fit)
[] How they meet.