Calculation (Level One): A skill for those that prefer head over brawn, maths over meat and being right over being wrong. All stats +5.

  'Neat!' Theo thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his room. 'Though I'm not sure about 'preferring head'.'

  He took a quick glance over the room, finding it rather cosy. There was a nice, decent-sized bed with a nightstand next to it with a candle standing on a wide, bronze candle holder. A nice, deep red carpet hung on one wall, which was more decor he'd seen in town since entering it. The bed hadn't been made, however.

  A rumble approached him from behind with high speed, and he reflexively evaded further into the room as whatever beast was on the loose was heading straight for him. He turned, finding the young lady from earlier, her rosy red cheeks exacerbated from her intense run.

  "Sorry! I forgot it hadn't been made, yet," she excused herself, breath heaving.

  Her hair was tussled from her sprint and her deep breathing drew Theo's attention to her lifting chest for the briefest of moments. She seemed to notice the slight indiscretion and fondled her own earlobe embarrassingly when he looked back up after what could've barely been half a second.

  "That's fine," Theo said, clearing his throat. "Do... Do you sleep here?" he guessed.

  "Not unless you pay," she teased, though he noticed her flush increase a bit. She was rather cute, he had to admit.

  "Right, for the rank?" he attempted to tease back, wondering what a normal person from this world would've said.

  She giggled. "No." She then brushed her hair behind her left ear, shifting her eyes to the bed before looking back at him. "There wouldn't be taxes involved in such a trade," she breathed as she headed past him inside the room.

  "Right, taxes," he agreed.

  Their gazes met again as she raised the duvet and fluffed the pillows, both a mix of playful and innocent.

  "I never got your name," he remembered as she stood back up to eye the bed with scrutiny.

  "Wen."

  "I'm Theo."

  With a wriggly shrug she brushed past him again and headed outside the door, turning to face him again from the hallway. "Nice to meet you, Theo. Enjoy your stay at the Barge." She then turned, walking away with a slight skip in her step, humming casually as he did.

  "Oh, that's why she said she wouldn't barge in on him the way she said it!" Theo said to himself in a whisper as the staircase thumped in a decreasing volume, the creaking of unhappy wood agreeing with the descending rhythm. "It was a joke! I should've read a sign outside or something."

  Having no belongings to his name other than a book and a pouch of coins, none of which he felt secure enough leaving up here by their lonesome, there really was nothing for him to do there other than lay and rest. He wasn't so tired after his walk, though he hadn't slept all that much that night. He decided to wait with a final decision as to what he should do, his interest in seeing how his new stat points changed things too high to resist.

  "Stats!" he said, fully expecting the system to serve him up some increased numbers.

  Theo's stats and skills:

  Health: 100% | Mana: 11 | Stamina: 100%

  Physical: 11 | Mental: 11 | Vital: 11

  Level One skills:

  Sigil Weaving

  Calculation

  Looking over the numbers, he was already starting to see a specific pattern. His mana points were directly related to his stats. The explanation of the three stats had mentioned nothing regarding Mana, which was a bit odd, he had to admit. His Stamina and Health were another thing, though he wasn't even sure where he should begin with them. Were they affected by stats at all, or were they just a way to see how tired and wounded he was?

  He wouldn't find out just by thinking it over, so he let it go for now. He needed someone like Chaste around so whenever he had any questions, he'd more or less get them answered. Maybe his first foray into this new world should be finding friends? The math made it clear; he had everything to gain from learning skills. Who better to teach him than the people right here, right now?

  Wen was a fresh breeze in a dank place. She was rather easy to talk to and seemed genuinely friendly and polite. Having already had a sort of polite, unbusiness-like conversation with her, she was as good a place as any to start. The fact that she was rather pretty had nothing to do with it, at least for now.

  With his sickness back home, he never had a long enough period of good health to pursue anyone. Now wasn't the time to change that, either, but being free of his sickness after all these years... He felt unburdened. Ready to explore and thrive, doing whatever he wished.

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  He left his world without a single regret. He'd had a wonderful life, filled with joy and people he loved. His farewells had been both given and received with love, and he let his life leave him with a smile on his face.

  A time would come for love again. For family. As of right now, however, it was time for him. To be the best he could be, to do what he never could before. To experience a strange new world, discover the secrets of magic, learn to wield that magic, and see things he once thought impossible or fantasy.

  The dampened murmur of a crowd shuffling out of the building shook him from his musings. From the window he heard more people talking loudly over each other, though they weren't on that side of the building. The window overlooked the street he'd come from originally, he recognised, but the crowds must've been gathering in the square.

  Making sure his things came along, Theo stepped outside of his room, locking the door behind him and put the key back in his pocket. He headed down, finding the entire place empty, even Wen nowhere in sight. He headed out the door, instantly noticing the larger-than-earlier crowd near the lavish villa.

  Without stepping too close, Theo approached the rabble, standing near the well-kept tree. In a perfect parody of an ego-boosted dictator only seen in cinema, a tan-skinned man with thick rubble on his cheeks, greying, well-kempt hair and a nice, silken attire stepped out on the villa's small patio overlooking the run-down square.

  "Your attention, dear people of Brook Town," he started, his voice deep and resounding as he stood above his sheep. "We all know the ranking is near. It is often in these final days the endeavours of which we've strived through come to bear. A final push for the future of Brook Town! All that we can give to make our township soar ever higher, we will give!"

  It was a surprisingly cult-like speech, Theo thought. What even was this 'ranking' thing?

  "As such, those of us that see ourselves as the most devoted to our town, nay, our home, have started selling our very own belongings to push our rankings that much higher! Of course, this is not without promise! An adequate Brook Town gives back to its people! We all know we're just getting started, our fields ready and our craftwork... decent. An adequate Brook Town, one that stands for another year, is a wealthy Brook Town, eager to pay its devoted citizens back thrice over!"

  Was this guy really just shilling his fellow citizens' belongings for some kind of eventual paying back with interest? Was this one of those fraud schemes? And why exactly use the word 'adequate' about the town? Didn't they hope for better things than being ‘adequate’?

  "An Ercheat trader, many of us know him well for his trade route through town, by name of Avrille de Santas, will stand ready to purchase any and all belongings of our devoted herd. He will be found in the town square from noon 'till dusk. I hope everyone will do what is only right. Brook Town has been standing for two years now, each year more prosperous than the last. The fate of our town rests in your hands," the man finished, bowing his head dramatically and solemnly as he awaited the congregation's response.

  A handful of claps could be heard as the townspeople seemed to come short in the way of impressment, yet the man higher above everyone else bowed and took his leave, returning to his grand home.

  Theo eyed the crowd as they murmured to each other before separating, not quite sure what the common consensus among them was. A tall man, likely the one from The Barge earlier, looked around at his fellow citizens with an unreadable expression. He met Theo's eyes for the briefest of moments before he turned the other way and seemed to head home.

  Theo turned back towards The Barge, seeing Wen enter just behind an older, rounder man, this one in a much richer dress than the rest of the people. The trader, no doubt. This whole thing reeked of thievery and fraud, but Theo wasn't going to get in the middle of it all. He wasn't sure what this ranking thing even was. He only knew it had something to do with money and taxes, and it seemed to have the entire township on edge.

  While decidedly not getting involved, Theo wasn't averse to some general nosiness and noble curiosity, as it were. Besides, this seemed as good a time as any to get to learn about the goings on in this world. He returned to The Barge, finding Wen and the trader talking around the counter.

  "Surely you don't expect me to pay, young lady?" asked the man, his voice hoarse and weary after long decades of alcohol.

  "Oh, pardon me, Mr. de Santas. It's... just with the ranking and all," Wen excused herself for speaking out of turn.

  "Yes, yes, I understand. It's the first, after all. Everyone is always on edge their first time after the immunity passes. No, I'm here for the betterment of Brook Town, so I'm sure you understand that the room is on the house," he explained matter-of-factly.

  "S-sure," Wen said, eyeing Theo hopelessly as he stood minding his very own business facing an empty wall.

  He returned the most empathic smile he could.

  "Excellent. I'll have the key then and be ready to set up in the square. I'm sure even a destitute hostess such as yourself even has something with which she could help Brook Town flourish, no doubt? See you at the wagon then, dearie," said the trader, taking the key out of Wen's fidgeting hands and was on his way. He tipped his hat and shared a pleasant smile with Theo before he left the establishment.

  "Yeah, he's not crooked at all," said Theo after sneaking over to the faltering hostess and after making sure the trader had well and truly gone.

  Wen's lips quivered as her eyes glistened, her cheeks rosier than earlier. The red had spread even to the tips of her ears. "I can't fuckin' believe it. I'd wring 'is neck twice over an' put 'is fat face in the damn chimney if I could," she said, finally exploding. Her entire demeanour shifted and her accent instantly broadened by a mile.

  "Intense," Theo said gently, hoping to calm her down. He noticed a slight wrinkle above her eye when she grimaced angrily into the air.

  She exhaled. "Sorry. I get a wee bit... intense is the right word," she apologised, reining herself in bit by bit. "His extortionate prices are one thing, but now I know he's in league with Mayor Whittlebut. Fuckin' pricks!"

  Actually, maybe she wasn't doing all that well in reining herself in as he first thought. Theo shared a disarming look, hoping she'd talk some more about it while calming herself down some.

  Whether it worked or not was for anyone to decide, but she turned away, poured two glasses of what Theo could only describe as sludge, then slammed both glasses heavily onto the counter. She lifted one up to her face and took a large swig, her throat undulating as she swallowed again, and again. Again. Again. Again, and again. As she did, her entire torso from her chin down heaved and sank. She slammed the empty glass back down, wiping her wet upper lip with an oddly gentle hand as if she suddenly had table manners.

  "You... don't want any?" she asked as if he was the one acting strangely.

  "Uh... sure," he said, taking the glass to caress it with both hands, fidgeting as he did.

  "Good. Because I need you to spy on de Santas tonight," she said, her voice back to normal with the exception of a slight hesitance. "I need you to find out what their plan is."