Sheathing his dagger, Jack set off for home while watching for anyone following him. He was wary that the rest of the adventurers’ party would attack him. With his hand on the hilt of his dagger, he walked through the city while trying not to draw attention to himself. Of course, he was splattered in blood… again!
Turning a corner towards home, he saw a contingent of city guards heading his way. Six anubian guards marched along the cobbled street.
“Fuck!” Turning on his heels, he headed back the other way. Once back around the corner, he ran before ducking into an alleyway while hoping it wasn’t another dead end. After running for a minute, he paused to listen. No sounds of guards’ heavy footsteps or shouts.
“Shit! That was close,” he leaned against a wall, trembling.
Had they noticed his blood-splattered clothing, they’d have questioned him, and he’d have struggled to offer a believable explanation. In principle, he could’ve told them the truth, but it would’ve been his word against the two women, and he wasn’t prepared to take the risk. It would also raise suspicions about him regarding the missing rat-faced rogue, Kyle.
He threaded a maze of back alleys until at last he recognised the familiar sight of his family’s home. I should carry a cleansing spell scroll from now on, he resolved. Better than explaining why I’m always covered in blood. The cleansing spell scroll, though frivolous considering the cost, would mean he wouldn’t be returning home covered in blood and other filth when things went wrong.
Jack entered his home and dashed upstairs to his room before anyone saw him. After removing all his blood-splattered clothes and hiding them under the bed, he headed to the bathroom.
“Hey, Mom,” Jack called as he was about to open the bathroom door, “Having a quick bath after archery practice. I stink like Polly’s socks.”
He heard his mom and Zia giggling in the kitchen downstairs.
“You want some lamb stew, Son?” his mom called back.
Jack smiled. “I’m famished, that sounds great. Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.” He closed the bathroom door and breathed a sigh of relief.
After a relaxing bath and something to eat, he headed to his room.
***
Jack sat at his study desk with a small notebook, writing about his encounter with the swordsman outside the Adventurers Guild.
Unexpected Encounter with a Swordsman
Location: Outside Lundun’s Adventurers Guild
Duration: Less than five minutes
Weapons: Dagger. Fireball scroll. White oak bow-unused. Frost breath scroll-unused.
I bumped into the swordsman and two of his party members outside the Guild after an archery training session. Unlucky.
My white oak bow was recognised by one of the party members. Could I have anticipated this?
I ran down an alley and hit a dead end. Unlucky.
Entered the back of a diner, became trapped. Unlucky.
Remembered I had a fireball and frost breath scroll in my pack, retrieved the former. Good forward planning.
Didn’t wait for the swordsman to attack. Activated the fireball scroll, which made the subsequent fight easier. Ruthless.
Drew my dagger and rushed the burning swordsman. Ruthless.
Planned to strike a vital point, BUT had a flashback of my burning home. Past trauma issue.
Stumbled into the swordsman and randomly stabbed him in the gut. Lucky.
Was confused after the flashback. Thought I was attacking Baron Greaves.
Missed a stab to the swordsman’s neck, but finished him with a strike under the chin. Messy, but effective.
Bluffed my way out of a fight with the two remaining party members. Still can’t believe that worked.
Again, felt a strange wave of power. What is it? How does it remove fatigue? Why does my hand itch?
Fight was over so quick, I wasn’t left too exhausted from the adrenaline rush.
Was composed enough to loot the coin purse and hide the greatsword.
Almost ran into a guard patrol covered in blood.
Observations
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I was unlucky to run into the swordsman, but it could happen again.
There are four more party members. Be vigilant around Lundun, especially near the Guild.
Buy another fireball spell.
Due to the disorientating fire flashback caused by the fireball, consider using a frost breath spell first.
Buy more spell scrolls, including cleansing spells to clean away blood. Survival is more important than coin.
Consider better places to store spell scrolls for easier access.
Jack read through what he’d written to commit it to memory via his Perfect Recall skill.
“Should I hunt down the other four?” he muttered while destroying the note he’d just memorised. With the Inquisition searching for him, he couldn’t take the risk of someone reading his notebook. “Knowing my luck, I’ll run into them tomorrow while I train!”
The two women now knew what he looked like. Even if he got rid of the white oak bow or removed the stain, they’d still recognise him.
“Hunt them down or avoid them?” Jack shook his head and tapped the notebook, still not sure what to do about the four remaining adventurers. My luck is both terrible and good, he thought while accessing his affinities to check his luck value again. He chuckled at the thought. It would be just my luck for it to have gone down.
“Hmm… my luck is still at 14%.” Like the last time, he checked all the current affinity values and again found others had increased. He wrote the changes down in his notebook.
Table of Affinities
Affinity | Old Value | Increase
Metal 15% +1%
Nature 8% +1%
Two more affinities had increased.
“What the hell is going on with my affinities?” Jack looked at the notebook entry listing his affinities’ change. It had only been a day since five other affinities had increased by 1%. It made no sense.
Having no answers, he destroyed the page and moved on to documenting his archery training session in Training Room 13. He transferred a summary of his results from the training session printout and his thoughts into his notebook.
Second Archery Practice Session
Location: Lundun Adventures Guild: Training Room 13
Duration: One hour
Weapon: White oak bow with multiple quivers of the Guild’s practice arrows
Went through the Novice Archer level zero training levels
Beginner levels 0, 1, and 2
Beginner’s level 10 for fun
The Guild’s system reported the following.
Archery training sessions results
Arrows released: 112.
Overall accuracy: 40%.
Trajectory arc suggests modest foundational training.
Recommendation: Strengthen shoulder and core muscles for improved stability.
Recommendation: Set difficulty level to Beginner level one.
Observations
Accuracy as expected based on previous training in the forest.
Minor improvements over previous session.
More relaxed/fun vs training in the forest.
Enjoyed level 10.
Body was already sore from previous archery practice and subsequent fights.
Muscles in arms and shoulders began to ache in under twenty minutes.
One hour of practice is the upper limit until I get stronger.
Remember to perform strength exercises several times a day!
I MUST EXERCISE MORE!!!
Consider buying suitable clothing for training.
Not ready to deal with Greaves.
Jack read what he’d written to commit it to memory using his Perfect Recall skill and then destroyed the notes and the printout. “No evidence,” he said.
He smiled as he recalled how he’d felt during the training session. “I bet training with a friend…” his mind went to his school friend, Robert, for a moment. “I bet training with friends would be great fun.”
A subtle hint of sadness crossed his face. In his past life, he’d come to the conclusion he’d never make a good warrior or fighter, but now he was doubting that assumption. “It was the pain,” Jack said to himself as he thought about why he’d dismissed becoming a fighter.
“Training caused so much pain. It sapped away all the joy.” His shoulders slumped as he remembered the months of painful archery training, none of it enjoyable or fun. The only thing that got him through the agony was his hatred of Baron Greaves. He had to get revenge and justice for his family’s death had to be served.
“I’m going to kill you,” he whispered with his fists clenched.
He stood and walked towards the wall where his bow and arrows were stored. They were hung on an aether-steam valve, safely out of the reach of children. The valve released a gasp of spent aether-steam as he took the white oak bow from the wall.
Jack stroked the bow where there was a large bloodstain soaked into the durability runes. “I enjoyed archery practice,” he admitted. “I actually enjoyed it.” He put the bow back and returned to his desk, sitting down with a happy smile, ready to spend the evening inscribing spell scrolls. He looked at his desk; it was covered in scribe supplies, all protected by the ever-vigilant PenDragon.
“PenDragon, we’ve got a great life here,” he said to the little toy dragon. “Let’s protect it. Together.”
PenDragon’s eyes glowed bright blue at the sound of its name, ready for voice-activated commands from its master. It released a small puff of aether-steam, confirming its new duty to protect their new life. To protect their family.
The Guild’s system reported the following.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level zero
Arrows released: 36.
Accuracy: 76%.
Wind compensation: 0.
Reaction time: 65th percentile.
Recommendation: Increase difficulty level to Beginner level one.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level one
Arrows released: 36.
Accuracy: 58%.
Wind compensation: 1.
Reaction time: 57th percentile.
Recommendation: Maintain difficulty level at Beginner level one.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level two
Arrows released: 36.
Accuracy: 42%.
Wind compensation: 2.
Reaction time: 53rd percentile.
Recommendation: Decrease difficulty level to Beginner level one.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level ten
Accuracy: 21%.
Wind compensation: 10.
Reaction time: 65th percentile.
Recommendation: Decrease difficulty level to Beginner level one.
Archery training sessions results
Arrows released: 112.
Overall accuracy: 40%.
Trajectory arc suggests modest foundational training.
Recommendation: strengthen shoulder and core muscles for improved stability.
