Ron decided to explore the system, to find if it could be helpful to their current predicament. What awaited him was something different than he had expected.
"Status Open."
[Name: Anthony of Thelessia
Health: 212/217
Mana: 112/114
Current Occupation Equipped: Huntsman
Current Skills Equipped: Spear Throw, Piercing Shot, Butcher (All Slots Filled)
Current Buffs Active: None.
Current Item Power: 6
Thelessian Noble Robe: +4 Defense
Leather Shoes: +2 Defense]
Firstly, the status screen did not display his level and his attributes. Instead, it showed his current occupation, his current skills and the item power of his equipments.
"Shop Open"
[Virtual Shop Opened]
[Welcome again… dear costumer]
[You have unspent Tokens: 200]
But was even more of a surprise was the shop. The window displayed an interface similar to the RPG games he has played, but it was so much bigger.
Supplies, Medicine, Weapon, Armor, Transportation, Potions, Artifacts, Pets Structures, and even Occupations. It was a shop that sold almost everything, and he could not explore it all in a single sitting.
He had low expectations when the first prompts appeared. After all, shouldn't a system give him some kind of power or buff, just like in the webtoons and web novels? And shouldn't the shop be simply a minor feature?
But he was no longer complaining, not after seeing he could buy literal castles and fortresses, right out of the shop. The virtual Shop system, or whatever it was called, was overpowered in its own way.
The baby's crying grew even louder, and it reminded him of their current needs. He navigated to the 'Supplies' menu and looked if he could buy milk.
To his delight, there was a section for all the kinds of milk that had ever existed. And there, alongside baboon and bear milk, was the most needed breast milk.
[Are you sure you want to buy a Small Bottle of Breastmilk x1]
[Spent 10 Tokens]
The shop prices were reasonable, and the initial free two hundred tokens turned out to be worth a lot. So, thirsty and hungry, he decided to also buy him and the lady, water and a meal.
[Are you sure you want to buy Beef Stew x2]
[Spent 40 Tokens]
[Are you sure you want to buy Full Waterskin x2]
[Spent 10 Tokens]
Taking the item out of the inventory, conjured a small bottle of milk out of thin air, totally forgetting that he was not in a game and the one watching him could consider it nothing but sorcery.
"Where did that come from?" she saw his finger fiddle at something in the air, and as if the direct result of it, something would suddenly appear. She had seen the same thing earlier, when he summoned a spear.
Unease broke between them. She refused the bottle and turned the baby away from him.
Ron was like a thief caught in the act and he stuttered and blurted out a nonsense reply... or so he thought.
"I'm a magicia-- I'm a mage."
"You are... a mage?" he watch as fear turn into fascination. It was an unexpected reaction although it made sense, remembering that the system detected magical presence in that world.
"Yes, I am." he replied, more confidently.
"I did not know that they truly existed." her face lightened, and the smile returned to her lips.
As if it was sufficient explanation, she finally took the bottle off his outstretched hands. She uncorked it, and made sure that the liquid would gently flow into the tiny mouth. The Breastmilk, to their relief, appeased the baby.
Ron, no, now Anthony, joined the woman who was sitting at one of the large oaken roots that was protruding out of the ground. Mirroring her smile, he stared at them both, happy that he could be of help.
Only a few inches away, he got a clearer and closer look on the woman's face. Her wavy golden hair, reflected the rays permitted by the shade, and fluttered at every passing breeze. Her silver eyes glowed as she looked down at the child with love. Dimples decorated her rosy cheeks every time she smiled.
It was a beauty that could not be dampened by the dirt on her skin, or the sweat that formed on her brows.
Anthony looked away before he was completely sucked in.
The baby, tired and full, finally went to sleep. Leaving the two alone in the land of the conscious.
"I have beef stew and water. You like you are starving." Ron summoned a bowl of beef stew and water and handed it to the woman, who couldn't still believe what she was seeing.
"I read in books that mages were secretive. Is that why you pretended to be a drunken loser?"
Anthony almost spatted out his first bite, she seemed to have perfectly described him in his past life.
"You know me?"
"Aren't you Lord Anthony, second son of Lord Alexander, commander of the city garrison." she replied in between chews of the meat, speaking with a puffed mouth.
"You were always drunk and a frequent visitor to brothels. I didn't know you were doing it all for cover."
He was indeed the spitting image. He also had an alcohol problem and hired hookers left and right when he was still living his earthly life. His father, too, was a man of stature, being an underling of an oil tycoon.
But he was not proud of the life he had lived. In fact, he would do anything to turn back time.
Wanting to change the topic, he asked a question about her.
"You know me, but I don't know you. Who might you be?"
"You don't?" she raised her brows and asked a little too loudly, and checking herself she lowered her voice.
"Why did you save me then?"
"We're from the same cart."
The answer seemed to have genuinely surprised the woman, and he had not a single idea why. For some reason, he could not recall a single memory from the man called Anthony.
"I'm Irene." she said and then referred to the baby that was sleeping atop her legs "And this is my nephew, David"
He wanted to know more, but the woman revealed nothing more than their names. She wore a fancy robe, so he guessed she was also a noble.
He chose not to press her further. After all, they have more than enough time to know each other.