"What happened?!" Mayor Kinton asked with worry when he saw Tars sitting on the floor.
"The fool almost blew himself up!" Ponter replied with a laugh that had a hint of panic in it.
Feerestia stayed silent. She seemed comfortable with Ponter and Tars, but still a little on edge around the crowd.
"Sorry about that barn," Tars apologized, looking a bit embarrassed while trying to get his feet back under him. "Do you know whose it is?"
"That was my family's barn," a woman said, stepping forward with one arm around a young boy who was probably her son. She had long sandy brown hair and what would normally be a pretty face if it didn't look so exhausted and worn down. The boy looked to be about ten years old and had the same-colored hair as his mother. He was looking at the fallen barn in confusion.
"I'm terribly sorry," Tars said when he finally managed to stand. "I had not expected the skill to be that powerful."
The woman sighed before glancing briefly at Mayor Kinton. "It doesn't matter. We're abandoning the land tomorrow, anyway. Just means the next one who tries to use the farm will need to build a new barn."
It seemed to Tars that the woman was more than the usual kind of tired. This was the kind of tired from a long march that you know isn't finished. If he had to guess, Tars would think she was only still moving forward for the sake of her son.
"Everybody get your rest, we leave two hours after sunrise!" Kinton shouted, getting everybody back to tending their own affairs.
A minute later, when the crowd had left again, Tars turned to Feerestia and gave her a shallow bow. "Thank you, Feerestia," he said with sincerity. "I was able to complete my quest with your help. Should you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. I will return this favor."
"It was nothing more than what I'd done in the Adventurer's Guild of my old home," she replied, brushing the matter aside.
Tars was curious about that, her past and Adventurer's Guilds in general, but there were already too many areas he needed to spend his concentration. Those topics would just have to wait.
"I should be able to help you with your Oath in the morning before we leave," Tars said. "It won't take long. Now I need to find somewhere to rest."
The trio separated, with Tars heading back towards the wagon he'd spent most of his day on or near while the other two headed a different direction. He hadn't seen their camp, but it was probably farther away from most of the other villagers. Ponter probably didn't want to risk having Feerestia too close to people that might be a problem.
As he looked around, he found the area to be filled with people. Far more than were there in the morning and afternoon. Some were arguing, some speaking in excited voices, and more than a few in mourning. Some of those sat silently, staring into the distance unseeing, others cried in sadness and grief.
Even in victory there is pain. Tars knew strength would be needed to survive whatever the Gods had planned for him, but he hoped these people wouldn't face these kinds of losses again. They were his people now, even if most didn't know it. He was their Protector until they no longer wanted or needed his protection.
It wasn't until just before he reached the wagon that he noticed Allevia. Tars had been lost in thought, and fighting exhaustion besides, so he had no idea how long she'd been walking alongside him.
"You seemed to be thinking pretty hard, so I didn't want to disturb you," she said to explain her silence. "Father wanted me to bring you to a farm nearby where he had a tent set up for you."
"I see," Tars acknowledged with a nod. "Thank you, Allevia. Lead the way, then."
They made a stop to retrieve the map and then made their way to his campsite. Allevia said all the nearby farms were filled with people, the farmers wanting to enjoy one last night in their old homes before starting fresh tomorrow.
He could see that Allevia was excited to start what she saw as an adventure. Still, she was smart enough to know it wasn't a game. New soldiers were the same, eager for glory, combat, levels, and wealth. Time would temper their passion and the lucky ones would find a balance. Tars would do what he could to help these people avoid some of the pitfalls. He just wished he could remember what they were.
His mind was able to recognize things as he saw them, but he had no examples of things that he hadn't yet witnessed. He would have to pay close attention and hope that at the first sign of a problem he could recognize it and correct the issue before it was too late. Until then, he would just have to reach tier one and hope he gained his memories back. Unfortunately, Tars had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.
"There seem to be far more people around than there was this morning," Tars said, setting aside problems he couldn't fix.
Allevia nodded in agreement. "This morning it was only the people from the village proper," she explained. "Once the hunters rested after the battle Father sent them and a few other people to all the other farms around Immica. Most of them had no idea what had happened. The farmers don't come to the village every day, after all. Now," the excitement dimmed a bit and she seemed hesitant, "we have to make a long and probably dangerous journey. I wish Ovintus were here."
The last part was a barely heard mumble. He wondered who Ovintus was, but it didn't seem the right time to ask.
Tars decided to ask her some of his questions about the menu and system since she had a Vow to keep silent about anything dangerous anyway, distasteful as those Vows were. Still, he wasn't the type of person to exploit a Vow's weakness anyway. Then Allevia asked about the new skill he'd used on the barn.
A few minutes of conversation later they arrived at a small bonfire where a bunch of people were gathered to stay warm in the cool night. Drinks were passed around, both with alcohol and without. Many offered Tars a drink in thanks or welcome, including the man who set off his 'unreliable' sense earlier. He avoided that invite, and a few others using his tiredness as a convenient, and wholly truthful, excuse.
There were also others who looked at him with suspicion, distrust, and a couple people with anger. Those who have lost tend to find someone to blame. He couldn't remember specific situations, but he instantly recognized the looks they wore. 'Had he been here a moment sooner...' Tars could imagine them thinking.
While he was looking around at the villagers around him, trying to use his Honor Sense to get a better read on them he felt a rumble in his mind. After a moment of confusion, Tars opened his menu to see a new message scrawled in the center.
-Your Mind Stat increased by 1!-
'Using Honor Sense can increase my Mind? Does using any skill increase Mind or is it only certain skills?' Tars focused on the Mind stat to get its full description again.
'Represents your knowledge, memory, and senses. Moderately influences speed of learning skills, moderately affects Mana.'
Closing his menu again, Tars asked Allevia if she could show him to where he was supposed to rest. He was tired, but he also wanted a chance to ask more about stats before he was given more questions he didn't have answers for.
While they walked Allevia explained that skills are assigned to a stat that influences it. Weapon arts will usually use 'Strength' or 'Agility', depending on the type of weapon, and sometimes on the skill itself. If you look at the stat description, you'll get an idea of what stat a skill will use. Sometimes there are weird ones or ones that use more than one stat.
She continued explaining what she knew but told Tars that she didn't know too much about it. Not long after, Tars and Allevia approached a small group of tents, some larger, but most only designed for two or three people.
"Tars," Umia called, the Mayor's wife walking over. "We already got a tent for you. There are a couple blankets already inside. Before you sleep, Kinton asked me to say he wanted to speak with you. I can let him know you're here?" she finished in a question, sounding unsure if he was willing to wait for the Mayor or not.
"Of course, I wanted to ask him about tomorrow as well," Tars replied with a smile. "I can't promise I will be awake when he arrives, but he can wake me when he has the chance. I'm sure there are a lot of people looking to him tonight."
Umia looked relieved and smiled at Tars in thanks. "I'm sure it will only be a few minutes, he's just telling most of them what they need to hear. I've found being a leader is less about making decisions and more about convincing people you made the 'right' decisions."
Tars didn't know how he felt about that. It rang true in his mind and also from his skill, but it seemed like it would cause problems. 'If you spend all your time fighting to be able to make a decision what happens in an emergency when no one agrees? Or worse, what if the one leading makes bad decisions but is really good at convincing others he is right?'
A minute later, Allevia and Umia said their farewells and left Tars in peace to look through his menu in more detail. He left his sheathed sword and the map along the side of the small tent and lay down on the pair of blankets he was loaned. They were somewhat coarse, but supplies were undoubtedly spread thin. Tars didn't mind. Well, he didn't blame them, at least, but that didn't make the blankets any softer.
Name- Tars*****
Titles- Light Shard, Blessed One of Arthaesis, Blessed One of Ospenielle, Protector of Immica
Status- Normal
Race- Human
Class- Unclassed
Level- 5/10
Exp- 25/500
-Stats-
Strength- 125
Agility- 100
Vitality- 121
Mind- 102
Soul- 100
Magic- 152
Charisma- 125
Mana- 66/152
Status Points Available- 15
-Skills-
-General-
Tier 1- Honor Sense, Mana Manipulation, Mana Sense, Minor Vow
Tier 2- Knight's Vow
Tier 4- Bestow Oath
-Weapons-
-Sword- Proficiency- Novice2/5
Tier 1- Lunge
-Magic-
-Neutral- Proficiency- Novice 1/5
Tier 1- Mana Explosion
-Light- Proficiency- Novice 1/5
Tier- 3- Radiant Beam
Tars' weakened status was officially gone but he still felt unnaturally weak. He was comparable to the boy who'd brought him the bowl of soup in the morning in strength. It made sense, Allevia had mentioned that most children receive their first class between ages ten and twelve, so he was similar to a nine-year-old.
Fortunately, it should only take a couple more days at his current rate to reach level ten and attain a class.
Unfortunately, it meant he only had those same couple days to learn a life skill and an elemental magic other than light and so far, he'd made little progress. Hopefully his daily quest will line up with that for tomorrow so he could just continue to focus on that.
He also had fifteen stat points to spend, which he felt he should do now. Usually, a person will learn skills of tier one and two, not learning stronger ones until they reach their second or third class. Tars didn't have that luxury. He wouldn't know what skill he was going to use beforehand, leaving him at risk of mana exhaustion, or worse. As annoying as his weakness is, he can struggle through it. The unconsciousness of mana exhaustion is much harder to fight, and that is if he didn't end up with something like the permanently reduced mana pool that Allevia mentioned.
Tars spread his stats among the ones that improved mana. He put eight into Magic, four into Mind, and three into Soul. This brought his new Mana total to 158. The next few levels his points would get placed differently. Depending on his quests and training he would see where they fit best, but his physical stats needed improvement. He was tired of feeling so weak.
His Proficiency with swords had gone up at some point, but Tars didn't know if it was while he was training on his own earlier in the day or a couple hours ago with Ponter and Feerestia. Learning Mana Explosion and Radiant Beam also gave him Neutral Magic Proficiency- Novice 1/5 and Light Magic Proficiency- Novice 1/5, respectively.
-Radiant Beam- A Light Magic Spell that creates a ray of glowing light that can reach distant targets. This skill is especially harmful to undead creatures who will continue to burn in golden flames.
Domains- Light, Sun.
The skill seemed incredibly useful and if he ever encountered an undead creature he would test out these golden flames.
His Daily Quest section was slightly faded and marked as 'Completed'. His reward showed he was given the 100 exp as well as an additional point in mind, which he'd noticed earlier when he was trying to decide where to spend his points.
'Tomorrow I will need to learn at least one new magic spell of either "Life" or one of the basic elements, probably Wind or Water from Feerestia.'
When Mayor Kinton arrived a few minutes later, the two discussed the trip, what he hoped Tars could help with, which admittedly was very little, and a time and place for giving Feerestia her Oath. The Mayor wished to view the Oath, but Tars said that it would be up to the elven woman to decide. The Oath can be somewhat personal, he explained.
With a rough plan for the start of the morning laid out, Kinton started answering some of the questions he'd been wondering about. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten most of the things he wanted to ask.
Mayor Kinton decided to just give a little more detail about the class options and what route Tars will probably go. Considering his use of a sword and light magic it would probably be a Holy Knight, Crusader of Light, or Templar of Light.
The Swordsman was a white class. Adding an Element usually would improve it to green. Depending on who he served or whether he worked under his own authority, like a mercenary or adventurer would, determined which of those he would be.
Holy Knights were soldiers for various militaries. Crusaders tended to be more independent. Templars serve temples and Gods.
"Would you be able to get a list of tier one skills?" Tars asked. "Basic ones that a Swordsman would use."
Kinton nodded. "I'll talk to Kino and Pashot. Maybe one of the Lumberjacks also."
A few minutes later the two separated and Tars entered his tent. He fell asleep immediately, his tired mind and body not even letting him dream.