Kade's eyes snapped open as he took a gulp of cold and moist air.
He was in another place, a completely different environment, as his vision adjusted to the more gloomy atmosphere his pupils darted around, observing rolling hills of grass littered with trees and grey cloudy skies above.
It had freshly rained, moisture covered the ground as he sat up near a large muddy trail.
A small headache permeated the base of his skull, he held his hand up to his head to soothe it; Kade noticed that his hair was full and luscious, more lengthy then it had been.
This is strange?
He noticed a puddle on the side of the muddy road he had woken up by, crawling towards it as no one was around.
A small drizzle started to pour from the clouds as Kade got a clear look at himself through the puddle.
What reflected back was his younger face, creases were no longer etched into his skin, his eyebags had vanished, all that was left was a glowing youth. His rejuvenated features distorted as raindrops fell gently into the puddle.
"By what I can remember, this is how I looked at the time of my first kill."
"I'm 17 again... so this is the power of a..."
He stopped, figuring it wise not to say anything further.
"Still, that screen was-"
As the words exited Kade's mouth, a red luminescent screen appeared in front of him.
When I think of it, it appears? Kade quickly figured out the trick behind it.
His eyes widened as he realised the previously undecipherable language on the screen was suddenly visible.
<| STATS: |>
|> LV 1 Human <|
HP 100/100
SP 100/100
|> Strength: 1
|> Defence: 1
|> Agility: 1
|> Dexterity: 1
|> Intelligence: 27
Kade scanned the information presented in front of him intensely. It was exactly like the statistics a character got in your average RPG video game.
This sort of scenario is beyond even me... he was perplexed whilst trying to wrap his head around what was happening to him.
He reflected on the existence of the five stat points in front of him, realising that it must be measured off of his current bodies state most obviously.
Intelligence is the only statistic not measured as one; as a result of my naturally higher intellect, perhaps. I was a university professor in my past life after all.
Kade began to grow interested at the concept of increasing his ability in all fields, strength, agility, intelligence.
With all of these things improving, couldn't I?
Do as I want, completely.
At this moment he realised the words of the being that conversed with him fully, with this tool at his hand, his goals would be uplifted to even greater heights.
Due to playing a lot of games in his youth because of his inherently closed off personality he was aware of all the elements involved with this screen, his eyes peering to the side as he observed another icon on the display.
QUESTS |>
He locked onto the icon with his vision, whilst blinking it seemed to change, showing another pop-up.
So you look at the thing you wish to interact with, and blink in order to fulfil that action.
Kade fully took in the contents of the new pop up, almost gasping in shock at what it contained.
<| MAIN QUEST |>
|> Prepare this world for the arrival of the Faceless God
|> Completion: 0/100%
So it's true, the being I faced, was really.
A god.
His instincts had told him not to pry further into it's business, he was relieved a hundred times over that he didn't.
Kade's eyes peered at the rest of the information, there were no other quests present under the tab, only that one.
The percentage bar. What makes it go up? If we're following the line of reasoning that a game has, and this is the main quest as it says, will completing subsidiary quests make it progress?
How will I even know what quests to complete, there are none currently shown, will they just show themselves eventually?
More questions then answers, but it doesn't hurt to go along with it, I'm not some obsessive compulsive who needs all the information in his life to make sense.
The light pitter patter of rain was growing increasingly annoying, coating him in the sensation of cold.
He rubbed his hands together, getting up from his place in the grass with a slight spell of dizziness.
As his eyes observed the rolling hills and the rich colours of the trees around him he had one question that formed in his mind.
Where the hell actually am I?
His introspection was cut short by the sound of rolling wheels in the distance, turning to peer over at the source of the sound, he noticed the outline of a simple wooden cart in the distance.
As it drew closer he saw the single horse pulling it along, with a man on top, piloting the steed calmly with a lead.
The man was draped in rugged and pale brown rags with a leather coif wrapped around his head. All of this information combined made Kade come to a realisation.
This really is something out of a fantasy game... This guy looks like your run of a mill peasant, so this alternate place is in the medieval period?
He could make vaguely accurate assumptions off of the clues just given, it wasn't like he was a mastermind at history, just a simple guess.
I've got no clue where I am, or what's surrounding me, I doubt he'll even speak my language, but I ought to make some use out of this...
Kade reflects for a moment on what to do, gaining an idea. He begins to pretend to shudder and limp towards the cart.
"Are you okay?" The man in the cart exchanges a concerned look towards the boy.
His 17-year old appearance obviously gave him a much more vulnerable appearance than a balding man in his late 30s, especially when out in the rain and appearing injured.
But what shocked Kade was the fact that he could completely understand the man, he was speaking English.
Is this a result of the system, some type of translation?
"I-I was robbed on the road-side whilst trying to look for the next village over."
"By the Gods, are you heavily injured? Can I get you back to your parents?" The plainly dressed man bombarded him with questions as it was clear he was sympathetic.
I suppose my words get through to him as well, this makes this ruse a whole lot simpler.
"I'm not that injured, but I don't have any parents to find... they were killed a long time ago." Kade fakes a saddened look.
"Gosh... I'm so sorry, the best I can do for you is let you hitch a ride to the orphanage, it's not in a village but it should provide you with everything you need, it's only a short ways down the trail."
"I'm a merchant, so I can't give you any goods to eat or drink unfortunately, please forgive me for that if you are hungry." He nodded in apology.
It's foolish to have so much benevolence in this world. Kade reflected as he nodded at the mans words.
"I'm not hungry, thank you so much for the offer..." He climbed up onto the cart, covered with various wrapped items.
The merchant pulls on the ropes, making the horse pull the cart again as it rolled forwards.
I should be able to probe for some more information out of this guy, but how would I make it believable, I can't just ask what date or country we're in, that would be too obviou-
His train of through was cut off by a pop-up screen which suddenly appeared in front of him; it's crimson background was almost ominous.
<| QUEST |>
Kill a person.
Reward: 100 XP
He analysed the contents of the quest, huffing with mixed feelings.
On one hand, 100 XP was probably the fresh hold to level up and try out improving those statistics of his, it would be useful.
On the other hand, killing the first person he met would deprive him of further information and also possibly place him in a bad spot if someone where to see.
A revelation then crossed his mind.
Isn't this the olden days?
No forensics, surveillance technology, even if there were witnesses, you could just cut them short.
It's like browsing the internet without parental supervision, you can do what you want.
The quest's suggestion was all he needed to assure himself to carry it out, after all, he had done it ninety times before.
Another couldn't hurt.
His arms reached for a long wrapped up object in the cart, the merchant was completely unaware as he was facing forward, focused on controlling the horse in front of him.
The wraps came undone, revealing a glistening sickle.
Perfect.
Kade gripped the sickle tightly, turning to face the man's back, before calmly implanting the sickle in the back of the merchant's head.
Crimson blood spurted from out of the wound, with Kade swerving his head to the side in order to avoid it as a gurgle emitted from the mouth of the dead merchant.
The merchant's body, which swiftly went limp was tipped off of the cart by Kade, who watched as the corpse spun away into the distance.
Whatever's contained in this carriage is likely more valuable then whatever was within his pockets. He surmised logically.
Especially with all that blood spurting out, his clothes did me no good, all drenched in red. Kade nodded as he now looked towards the goods wrapped up in the back of the cart, the horse was still trudging along, not caring for the death of it's owner in any capacity.
"Let's see what we've got to work with here."
Suddenly, a small pop up appeared in front of him.
<| QUEST COMPLETED |>
Followed by another.
< | LEVEL UP! | >
His eyes lowered down to the text below.
| > ASSIGN 3 SKILL POINTS