Previously, troubled by the disorientation of losing his sight, Ramsey would have found a place to sit to peruse the menu. Now, without a second thought for his serrated surroundings, he brought it up to see the new selection.
[Inventory]
Ramsey quickly selected it.
[Items]
[Name ?]
[Type: Short Sword]
[Attack: +2%]
[Effect: None]
Seeing that the rusty treasure could be named was interesting, but it was the other specifications that were exciting to Ramsey. Not because of their impact, which appeared to be extremely minimal, but because of what they revealed about how weapons or items worked on Elorr.
This dull discarded blade increased his attack by 2%.
Would it have been more when it was new? What if it was restored?
And this was the work of a non-magical apprentice. What about the masterpiece weapons Treya had mentioned?
The blade had no listed effect, but effects were possible. Were they enhancements, magical abilities, status conditions? Ramsey planned to ask Treya when they spoke next.
'This really is like a game.'
He closed the menu and drew the blade again. Admiring it by the lantern light, although it had not changed in the last few moments, it felt deserving of a greater appreciation.
Ramsey looked back at the pile of failed commissions, tempted to try storing each one away to see their specifications - but he was comfortable with his choice and somehow that felt disrespectful.
'What should I name it?'
The vine etched on the blade had drawn his attention before. Perhaps it was because of his desired connection to his foundation, to Elorr.
'A name fit for a weapon of nature….'
He recalled the inventory menu, and focused on the missing name.
[Name item?]
"Yes.
Name item… Thorn."
Dismissing the menu and putting away the aptly named weapon, Ramsey left the lantern behind, along with the safety of the dimly lit shop, for the substantially darker creekside.
On Earth Ramsey prided himself in his subjugation of fear. Creaky doors to basements with burnt out lights might be a deterrent for some, but after 44 years of never seeing a ghost or monster, he was numb to it. But that was Earth.
Treya had applauded his bravery for this nighttime excursion, which inferred a need to be brave against… something.
Ramsey's hand rested on the pommel of his sword as he walked.
The sound of his footsteps on the dirt path were occasionally interrupted by rushing winds and shifting trees, only fueling his nervousness.
It was especially dark, darker than any night on Earth. Looking up at the sky, the reason was obvious. He had seen it up close before, but it was still quite a site from down here. Elorr's moon was the color of graphite, barely visible if not for its many craters of shimmering ice.
After making it to what he expected to be the halfway point, he stopped. His eyes were tired from the constant darting around at every rustling sound.
Ramsey closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'There's nothing to be afraid of, you fool.
Treya was probably just being facetious.'
He exhaled slowly, shook his head at his absurdity, and took a confident next step as he opened his eyes - and almost fell.
About a dozen creatures were facing him, not moving. Scattered from 25 to 40 feet away, they had approached in a semicircle, in all directions opposite the creek to Ramsey's left.
Their form was rabbit-like. They were slightly larger, but stayed low to the ground with similar hind legs and long pointy ears. That's where the similarities stopped, though. They were hairless, with a greenish oily skin, but most disturbingly, instead of front legs, they had arms and hands.
It seemed they made their move when his eyes were closed, but now they were stopped, waiting.
Ramsey took a step back and they collectively jumped forward, closing the gap by a few feet.
'Shit.'
Hesitantly reaching across his body, he slowly drew his sword. Thankfully this beckoned no movement from his pursuers.
He tightened his grip on the rusty blade and mentally thanked Treya for her generosity.
The way Ramsey saw it, he had two options. One was to try his inexperienced hand slashing through the creatures and to make a run for it. There was a good chance those remaining would catch up to him, though.
The second option was riskier. None of the creatures came from the water, so there was a chance they wouldn't follow him if he retreated into the creek. However, if they did, he would be slowed by unstable terrain as he fought.
One thing was for sure, they seemed to act reactionarily, so remaining still, Ramsey had a moment to weigh his options.
He briefly considered adding points to his strength attribute. He had noticed the slight change with his dexterity before, which would certainly help in this situation, but being stronger could make the difference.
There was only one thing holding him back. He had to open the menu to adjust his attributes, which meant losing sight of the creatures momentarily. That was not a risk he could take.
Making his decision, Ramsey shifted his front foot toward the creek, causing the creatures closest to him to hiss, revealing their two sharp front teeth.
'Okay, not friendly confirmed.'
At around 15 feet from the water, he was confident he could get there quickly, but the creature's jump range was unknown.
'Let's do this.'
Ramsey abruptly took a hard step away from the creek toward the creatures to his right. This caused them to flinch and provoked others to jump toward him in that direction. However, their commitment was all he wanted.
Pushing off his newly planted foot, Ramsey bolted toward the water. It would only take a couple seconds to get there, but had he not feigned in the opposite direction, the result would have been very different.
The closer creatures were capable of jumping the entire distance to their target, but they had to jump rather high to get there. The added height, plus the second jump in the correct direction gave Ramsey the precious seconds needed to wade knee deep.
While turning to look back, a cacophony of flops battered the creekside, followed by more abhorrent hissing.
His guess was right it seemed, whether they disliked water or just couldn't follow this deep due to their size, he was safe for the moment.
"You ugly little bastards," Ramsey said, catching his breath.
He took a couple steps downstream and they followed.
'Looks like I'm not getting rid of you that easily, huh?'
Ramsey had noticed the creek was not consistently this deep during his walk. It often came to more shallow, narrow areas, which meant simply crossing the creek would only provide safety for so long.
Testing his protection, Ramsey raised and readied Thorn, then took a step toward the line of creatures. No movement, just hissing. Another step, the water was now mid-calf, but still no change. The third step into ankle deep water triggered two of the creatures to jump at him. Retreating that step and slashing defensively at the same time, the blade struck one of the creatures in across its open maw, separating the top of its head from its jaw.
The system had said something to Ramsey in the chaos, but he hadn't paid attention to it.
The second one landed in deeper water than it had expected and thrashed violently trying to keep its head above water.
Taking advantage of the situation, Ramsey stabbed at the flailing beast, piercing through its torso into the creek bed, pinning it under water. The handle of his sword shook briefly from the writhing creature before falling still.
Ramsey had never been a hunter, nor was he a violent man. Taking the life of another being was a first for him. Well, a first and a second. But he had no time for such thoughts, because he heard the system this time.
[Defeated class 1 monster - Warvle]
"Monsters, huh?" Ramsey said, pulling his sword from the drowned carcas.
"Now I don't feel so bad."
Ramsey spent the next few minutes taunting warvles into attacking. Using the same tactic of stepping up and back as they launched themselves into the air.
They made for easy targets when they came alone, like a morbid batting cage, Ramsey cleaved and hacked as pieces of warvle splashed in the water around him.
When they came in a group, Ramsey tried dodge, leaving them to fall into the deeper water. However, the last group of 4 or 5 all came at once. In a failed attempt, two landed on him, grabbing him with their creepy arms as he began falling backward. They tried to jump away as they realized what was coming, but Ramsey embraced them and let himself sink.
Holding on tightly to the convulsing bodies, he held his breath and waited. In this moment he thought of the strangest thing. Earlier this morning he was also under water, in his tub on Earth. And just as it had happened then, his lungs eventually begged for oxygen and he surfaced.
Standing up and looking around, Ramsey was alone. No more hissing. Nothing jumping at him.
Completely soaked he trudged back to the shore and sprawled out on a patch of grass.
Looking up at the night sky, he heard a familiar voice.
[Defeated 10 class 1 monsters]
[Earned 1 free attribute point]
[Item added to Inventory]