As Adrian and Amber wandered the western border of Stonehold, gathering what berries and fruits they could find, Adrian examined the rest of the leather-bound book's contents. Inside, there were a few more explanations of the origins, cultures, and pantheons of Aoera's inhabitants. These races included Elves, Dragonkin, Halflings, and Gnomes.
Adrian tried his best to learn these portions as he read them, but what interested him most was what he discovered on the inside cover of the book. There, on the other side of what was the front cover, Adrian found a small dark feather embedded deep into the leather. When he first read the book, it had been too dark to see the feather.
Now that the sun had risen, however, the feather's presence became obvious to anybody capable of seeing an elephant two feet in front of them. At first, Adrian only considered it to be a decorative choice. He read the rest of the small book, which he had been calling his Journal, and did his best to keep its contents fresh in his mind.
However, after one very short reading session on the base of an oak tree, Adrian's finger glided over the surface of the feather. Soon after, he felt a buzz on the tip of his fingers and recognized that the feather had fallen from its socket. Soon after, the book opened, as if somebody had slammed it down onto a table. The pages came to life like they were galvanized by the wind. Adrian watched as the book's contents flashed by as the pages turned with the swiftness of a lightning bolt.
Soon, the pages settled somewhere near the center of the book. When the wind settled, Adrian looked forward to see a pair of empty pages. Blotches of ink began to appear on the blank pages, each letter appearing at the same time as the others. Words formed as the letters joined together.
On the left page, Adrian saw a set of lines hovering near the borders of the paper. Each line was styled in the same way the tattoo on his back was. Between all of the fiery sketches and drawings was written a passage of bolded words.
~~~~
RUNE OF THE SCHOLAR - LESSER INTELLECT RUNE
Current Quality: Feeble
-
SKILLS
Spellcasting (Untrained)
- The ability to harness the mysterious power of Magic. You are yet untrained, but the potential resting in your blood is there. You must only seek a teacher who can show you how to harness it.
LOCKED
LOCKED
LOCKED
LOCKED
LOCKED
~~~~
On the right page, a similar black pattern of flames covered the border, yet the words were different. There was more content- content that Adrian understood in a moment's notice.
~~~~
STATS - LEVEL ONE
HP: 10
- Your Health. For every point in Vitality, your HP will increase by 10.
SP: 10
- Your Stamina. For every point in Vitality, your SP will increase by 10.
MP: 10
- Your Mana. For every point in Intellect, your MP will increase by 10.
FP: 10
- Your Focus. For every point in Sense, your FP will increase by 10.
-
MIGHT: 1
- The manifestation of physical power. Affects DMG with physical weapons, Carry capacity, as well as your resistance to DMG de-buff curses.
FINESSE: 1
- The manifestation of your speed. Affects DMG with ranged weapons, running speed, unarmored defense, and your resistance to speed de-buff curses.
VITALITY: 1
- The manifestation of your body's health. Affects your Health (HP), Stamina (SP), and resistance to diseases, poisons, and plague curses.
INTELLECT: 1
- The manifestation of your mind's prowess. Affects your Mana (MP), Spell DMG, and resistances Spell DMG de-buff curses.
SENSE: 1
- The manifestation of the strength of your senses. Affects your Focus (FP) and passive perception, as well as your resistance to illusions and sleep-related curses.
CHARM: 1
- The manifestation of your natural charm and likability. Affects the chances of persuasion and intimidation, decreases the damage you deal to allies, and increases your resistance to mind-control curses.
-
XP: 0/100
~~~~
As Adrian read the contents of his Journal, he turned back to the feather in his hand.
"Ah," Adrian realized. He pulled the feather closer to his eye to inspect it more easily. As he looked at it, his eyes drew down to the feather's base, where he saw a finely cut hollowed-out portion of the feather. Soon, he realized this wasn't any ordinary feather. It was a quill. His eyes wandered back down to the Journal. He hovered his quill over the pages, then watched as a new message appeared just below the quill's base.
YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY STAT POINTS
"Ah, unfortunate," Adrian said disappointed with a wide smile. He rose to his feet and slammed the book closed. As he did so, he put the quill back into its socket- momentarily gasping as he watched it snap into place like a magnet- before he placed the Journal into the snug fit of his armpit before he returned to the small clearing where Amber sat.
There, he showed her the Journal's quill. She exclaimed surprise at the revelation, then turned to Adrian with confusion.
"It's just like a game. How are we supposed to level up? By fighting monsters?" Amber muttered.
"I'm sure the Journal will explain it all in the future. We just have to be patient enough for the pages to fill out on their own. It only seems to reveal the specific knowledge of anything within reach of us. We may know about Stonehold and Solarum, but the Journal didn't mention anything more specific than the name of the capital," Adrian said, "If that doesn't work, I suppose we can just ask around."
A day later, Adrian and Amber saw their first sign of civilization. As they climbed to the crest of a small hill, Adrian saw a small village, barely the size of a football field, in the distance. Had there not been two plumes of smoke coming from the only chimneys in the village, Adrian would've missed the village entirely.
As soon as the twins noticed its presence, they altered their course and headed directly for it. Walking down from the mountain was easier said than done, but they eventually arrived at the village a few hours later. By then, the sun was already beginning to set again, marking their third day since the two found themselves in the forest.
When Adrian and Amber arrived at the village, Adrian saw the outline of two guards. Both of the guards held a simple spear and wore no armor, but they were larger than most people Adrian had ever seen.
One guard, the taller of the two, had dark black hair and even darker eyes. His beard was as thick as a Viking's and his neck was as thick as Adrian's waist. The other guard was slimmer and well-built. His brown beard, though shorter than his companion's, would still put a biker on earth to shame.
Although the two guards didn't wear any armor- modern or otherwise- their clothes were thick and dark. They appeared dressed for the winter.
As they noticed Adrian and Amber approach, the guard with the black hair picked up his spear and took a few steps forward. Then, he quickly raised it high into the air before throwing it forward with more force than an Olympic athlete would be capable of. The spear sailed through the air with precision, landing only a few feet in front of Adrian.
The twins froze, shocked at the physical display of the guards before them, before they were shocked out of their stupor by the voice of the black-haired guard.
"Halt! What is your business here!" The guard ordered as he readjusted his posture. He no longer had a spear, but that fact didn't seem to discourage him. If anything, the strength of his courage made Adrian feel smaller- like a child that had stumbled upon a meeting of grownups.
"Uh-" Adrian stammered, his voice shaky. His eyes glanced at the spear in the ground before they turned back to the guard. He took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. Then, with a fierce gaze, he turned back to the guard, "We are travelers. Our destination is the borders of Solarum. We were hoping to stop at your village along the way."
"Solarum? Are you not from the Kingdom of Stonehold?" The second guard- the one with brown hair- asked. Adrian shook his head.
"We come from that direction, but we are not citizens," Adrian answered. The guards looked to themselves, confused, "My sister and I only wish to travel on to Solarum."
"Hmm. You do not arouse suspicion in me, but I cannot speak for the whole village," The brown-haired guard said. He turned to the village gate, which wasn't much more than an open archway, "You will speak to the chieftain. He will decide if you are worthy enough to stay. For now, welcome."