“I’m awake.” I responded, rubbing at my stiff neck as I willed the manual away. I’d gotten up to a section about arbitration protocols and fair disciplinary actions before falling asleep. Or, that was the last thing I remembered at least.
The door opened, and a bit of light spread into the room, broken only by Martha’s stout silhouette. I hadn’t realized how dark it’d been until that moment. “I’m gonna make breakfast if you’d like to join me. If you’re truly from a noble house, someone will likely be here by lunch and you don’t want to deal with that on an empty stomach.”
That… sounds like a good idea. “Sounds good. Do you want any help?” I figured the least I could do was offer. Not that I expected to know anything about cooking.
Martha stepped away from the door, “I’m sure I can find something for ya. Maybe peelin’ some tubers.” The dwarven woman then headed down the hall, her footsteps loud enough I wondered how I didn’t hear her get near the door. Or how Greg could sleep through her moving about.
I followed after her, stretching a little before leaving the room. My body felt different. Better. Not by a lot, but it was like breathing was easier and my limbs didn’t weigh me down. The world, a little more in focus. If that’s what a few points does, what’ll it be like when something gets to 20? It was a thought for later, especially since I didn’t think experience would be quite as easy to obtain after the tutorials.
Heading downstairs, I made a stop outside first to use the toilet. The seat was cold, but I didn’t waste any time in there. Martha directed me to a sink with some soap soon after I got back inside and told me to wash my hands..
As I did, she spoke, “It’s not often I have company this early in the day. Greg is usually out for another couple hours.” She moved about the kitchen with practiced ease, grabbing pots, pans, knives, and other cooking utensils.
After a few minutes of her organizing her tools, she turned to me. “Now, I know you said you forgot most things, but do you have any knife or cooking related skills on your sheet?”
I shook my head. “Is that a problem?”
Martha snorted with laughter, “Ancestors, no. Just means I start you with something easy. What's your Dexterity?”
“12. I've also got a Heal spell if that'd help.” I looked at the knives and they seemed rather sharp.
“Oooh, fancy.” She turned to see what I was eyeing. “Aye, that's as good a start as any. I've got some potatoes that need peeling and a few vegetables you could chop. Things that don't need to look pretty if they're in a stew.”
I nodded and took the knife she held out to me. After a little guidance, she set me to peeling potatoes while she went about preparing a large slab of meat. There was a lot of seasoning involved and apparently a much sharper knife based on how easily she cut it apart. I returned my focus to the small stack of potatoes in front of me and started to carefully peel them.
By the time someone could be heard knocking out in the front room, she had a pot bubbling with pleasant smells coming from it. Meanwhile I was on my sixth potato, and it was joining the others in looking like a blocky misshapen mess.
Martha wiped her hands on a towel and smiled at me. “That would probably be the baker’s assistant. Finish up with that one and we’ll break for a meal.”
She got up and headed out to the front and I looked down at the half peeled tuber. Well, she said it didn’t have to look nice. I bit my lower lip as I concentrated, and let out a frustrated growl as the knife slipped and flung a large chunk of spud at the nearby wall, the knife dropping to the floor.
I reached to catch the knife on instinct and hissed in pain as I dropped it. Blood welled up from a shallow cut, but other than the pain being surprising, it didn’t hurt too badly. I grabbed the nearby towel and held it to the cut. “Fucking void sodomizing… shit.” I let out a long breath and went to my menus to try and figure out how to cast the heal spell.
As I was looking, Martha came back carrying a basket filled with bread rolls. She set it on the counter and rushed over to me. “Are you alright? What happened?”
I held up my hand and she noticed the knife and sighed. “Let me see your hand.” She took a seat next to the table and motioned for me to show her. I opened my hand and she pulled the towel away.
“Well, it’s not that deep. If we clean it and wrap it, you’ll be fine.” With a sigh of relief, she tugged me over to the sink and did something to cause water to come out of it. “Thought you knew a healing spell?”
“I don’t know how to use it.” I said, clearly frustrated.
“Don’t know much about spells, but if it’s true they’re like abilities you should just have to focus on it and let it do its thing. Might have to think of the target.” She tugged my hand under the flowing water and started to clean off the blood.
Mentally shrugging, I did what she said and when focusing didn’t work, I focused on healing the cut. That didn’t work either. “Uh, I’m trying to heal the cut but it’s not working.”
Martha sighed, “The cut isn’t the one that’s hurt, now is it?”
I blinked, and changed to focus on casting Heal on myself. Suddenly, there was a slow draining feeling from somewhere inside of me. Then I was covered in a faint, white glow as the cut slowly closed. After a few seconds, it was done and besides the bloody towel there was no sign I’d been injured.
“Aye, that’ll do.” Martha grabbed the ruined towel and offered me a clean one. “Think we’ll hold off on any more cooking lessons. Why don’t you go have a seat out front, and I’ll get us a meal going?” I nodded as I dried my hands before heading out front to find somewhere to sit and think.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
I don’t know what I thought would happen. I don’t know what happened with Assessment, but most skills must not be that easy to get. Looking at my now injury free hand I shook my head. Didn’t even get any skill levels from the whole thing.
Martha came out a little while later and set a mug down on the table along with a small plate full of fluffy yellow eggs that smelled delicious. The mug was filled with some kind of juice that tasted sweet and a little tart at the same time. The eggs were seasoned with salt and something else that had a strong smell, but complemented the eggs well.
I ate the breakfast provided and occasionally looked through the manual I’d fallen asleep to. I skipped over large sections at a time, mostly focusing on things I could do rather than the seemingly endless amount of rules and responsibilities that came with them. I promised myself I’d get to them, but would likely just use it as a reference when situations came up. It helped that I found a search function after messing around.
Martha came out from the kitchen occasionally to chat with me. It was mostly gossip about the neighbors, nothing that seemed serious. It all seemed fairly mundane. People sleeping with people they shouldn’t. Silly incidents like when a whole guard squad was covered in mud by a passing carriage and proceeded to fine the noble inside.
It was during one such story that there was a knock on the door. Martha stood up and walked over to a window to look outside.
“Hm, it’s a little early to open, but they’re dressed well.” She turned to look at me, “Mind grabbing some of the glasses behind the bar? The wide, short ones.”
I went to get them as I heard her unlock the door and peek out to talk to someone. I couldn’t hear the conversation, but I grabbed two glasses and set them on the counter. I was walking around when one of two she let in started to run towards me.
Skill Gained: Unarmed Combat Tier 0, Rank 1
Skill Gained: Cheap Shot Tier 0, Rank 1
On instinct, as soon as he was close enough, I struck. I stepped into his reach and my fist hit him in the chest, just under his ribs. As he bent over, I swept my leg into his, moved so my hip could act as fulcrum, and then threw him so he landed on his back on the floor. Only once he was on the ground did I step away, breathing hard.
The man did not get up right away, apparently stunned. Someone else must have been alert, because I felt something sharp and hard press against the side of my neck.
Unarmed Combat has ranked up
Unarmed Combat: Tier 0, Rank 4
“Everyone just calm down!” I could hear Martha shouting as the sharp object was suddenly pulled back from my neck. I turned and saw the stout woman holding a man in some kind of metal armor that just covered his torso. The man looked like he was trying to resist, but Martha wasn’t budging.
“Ow…” The man on the floor groaned out. Taking a look at him, he was dressed in a colorful outfit of red and green, embroidered with flowers and vines covered in thorns. He looked taller than me by at least a head. He had blonde hair and the start of a beard.
“She attacked a noble! Do you know who that is? Calmar Rosecrest, of the Rosecrest family. Son of Marquis Rosecrest!” He had apparently stopped struggling, but was glaring daggers at Martha, who seemed to not care in the slightest.
“And she’s likely related to him, you idiot, or did you not read the message Captain Severn sent to you.” She let go of his arm, and walked over to the slowly recovering Calmar Rosecrest. “You okay, lordling?”
He slowly nodded, and Martha offered him a hand to rise to his feet. She then guided him to the bar and had him take a stool. “Now, since all the excitement is over.” She gave me and the other man a sharp glare. “Maybe introductions are in order? The girl did lose her memory, after all.”
Rubbing at his chest and wincing, Calmar nodded, “Right… I was just so relieved I didn’t think.”
Now I felt bad, and moved to take a seat at the bar next to him. “So… Do I need to, or are you someone who knows me?”
Calmar winced, and sighed. Which caused him to wince again, this time in pain. “I would hope so, being your brother. Well, brother by marriage, at least.”
My mouth formed an O as I suddenly realized that I may have overreacted. To be fair, I don’t even know where that came from. If I’d been able to do something like that, how did I end up like that in the alley?
The man who’d drawn a sword on me, stepped up to the other side of Calmar. “I’m Porter, his bodyguard. Though the idiot makes it a difficult job with stunts like this.”
My apparent brother sighed deeply. “He also enjoys busting my balls when he can get away with it.”
“Only when you deserve it, my lord.” Porter said as he took a seat and accepted a poured mug from Martha. “Thank you.”
She set two more down, one in front of myself and another in front of Calmar. “I’ll leave you three to talk. I’ve got a couple more things to get started for later. Call out if you need anything else.”
With that, she went back to the kitchen and left the three of us alone. Calmar wasted no time, “So, what happened? I read the report, but it’s not like it was very detailed. It just said you were attacked and staying with trusted individuals.” He looked around, “I didn’t realize it was some bar.”
“Guess they left out the part where I woke up in a pool of my own blood.” I took a sniff at the mug and felt my nose scrunch up at the smell. Maybe it tastes better than it smells?
Calmar and Porter were both staring at me. Porter was the first to recover, “Did… did they catch the person who did it?”
I shook my head, “I was alone and they’ve apparently been doing this for a while.” I took a sip from my drink and pushed the mug away in disgust.
They both watched, but didn’t comment. Porter looked at Calmar frowning, “I don’t even know why they bother paying the guards if they’re going to be incompetent.”
Calmar rolled his eyes and turned to look at Porter, “Just cause most of them don’t actually have the class doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be paid for their work.”
I locked in on that, “What do you mean?”
Sighing, Calmar wiped his hand across his face, “Right, I’ll have to explain a lot of this.” Taking a deep drink, he set the tankard back down and pulled some kind of napkin out of his jacket pocket before wiping his mouth. “Porter, where do you think it’d be best to start?”
“Explain the guard thing, and then we should probably get going and you can talk more in the carriage.” Porter looked past Calmar at me, “If you want to come with us, that is.”
Hesitantly, I nodded. “I… think so.” I didn’t know how it worked, but they seemed genuinely concerned about me. At least, Calmar did. Porter seemed to just be worried because Calmar was.
Assessment has ranked up
Assessment: Tier 0, Rank 3
I let out a sigh and shook my head. Calmar and Porter looked at me curiously. So, I explained, “Assessment went up a rank after thinking a little.”
Calmar blinked in surprise, “Huh.” Porter, meanwhile, barked out a laugh. I looked at both of them in confusion before Calmar spoke again. “Well… we’d been trying to teach you that skill for… well years.”
I blinked. “But it wasn’t that hard… Why are you laughing?”
Porter had started laughing, and he was just shaking his head. Even Calmar started smirking. He explained, “Because… You aren’t wrong. It just requires a bit of… thought.”
I blinked again. “Was I fucking stupid?”
Porter howled with laughter.