It took me an embarrassing amount of seconds to realize this town was filled with locals and I could ask quite literally the next person who walked by me for directions.
So that's how I found myself on my way. Of course, I got confused multiple times but at last, I found myself in front of an open-air workshop building. I walked beneath the shade and looked around but there was no one inside. Well, what could I do except wait?
I sighed and sat on the ground, resting on one of the structure's support beams. I was tired as hell and only just remembered I saw an energy bar as one of my stats in my Player info. I opened my menu and checked and sure enough, the bar was low, showing a reddish-yellow. If it went any lower it would be red and I was going to get a warning.
I closed it and sighed. Now, I had to find food as well.
A door at the back of the building opened and a man came out through it, not seeing me from my position on the ground. He is large, not very large, but muscular, an obvious result of years of hard work. His dark hair had chunks of grey in it as well as his beard and moustache; his eyes were thin and dead, expression a deep, melancholic frown.
Okay, this was way too much observation I was doing on a random NPC for how exhausted I was. I got up all of a sudden and the carpenter flinched in surprise but relaxed once he saw I wasn't a threat.
"I'm not taking requests this week, son." He said, his voice deep and gruff. "Got a large project I have to deliver."
"I know, sir, I'm here about that actually." I swallow, feeling a little too ashamed about what I was preparing to ask. The carpenter raised an eyebrow at my visible nervousness. "I wanted to know if it was okay for me to borrow an axe?"
Silence. It stretched on and on and I fought the urge to just turn and walk away from this situation. "Is that all? You look like you're about to shit yourself, boy. Go into the back and grab one from the few I have resting in a corner."
He didn't say anything more and went to work on a big, strangely shaped piece of wood. I did as he said and went in. The place was a workshop, chaotically disarranged with tools everywhere and wood filings and scrapings. Unfinished projects stood here and there and amidst it all, I spotted the group of axes I was looking for. I made my way across the mess to the far away corner and got back.
Outside, the carpenter is sawing away at a piece of wood and doesn't even hear me when I thank him before leaving. It must be some project he's working on because holy hell, that was already a lot of wood back there. Maybe he wanted to build a house.
Whatever. As long as I got my gold and XP at the end of it.
It was so strange that I hadn't come across any other players. I mean, maybe I had, but none had introduced themselves to me. And it should've been obvious when I met one right? Like their name and level floating over their head or something, as freaky as that would be.
This whole issue made me deeply uneasy.
I made my way back the way I came and out of the village, heading straight towards the forest I spawned at. I didn't have to go in at all because trees were everywhere. I didn't know what kind of wood the carpenter required and probably should have asked, but his answer wouldn't have mattered because I have absolutely no knowledge of wood. Wood is wood, everyone.
I find a nicely grown, sturdy tree and pull out my axe from my inventory. And here is where I encountered the first problem.
After just twelve swings, I could swing no more. The afternoon was so hot. Sweat drenched my body and through my thin tunic and my system menu sent a warning.
[Warning: Your energy bar is low.]
Many thanks, dearest system.
I set my axe down and bend over to rest with my hands on my knees. No way this shit was this hard. Once again, who made this game??? I was going to suckerpunch the person as soon as I found a way to log out, something I'd have done ages ago but I could not find a log out button anywhere.
I stand up and move around, beginning to look for fruit trees I could pluck from. It wasn't long until I found one, the fruit bright red and juicy-looking. It was probably poisonous but I couldn't bring myself to care enough, blinded by fatigue and hunger.
I plucked a few of the oval fruits and took them back to my initial tree, seating down to begin eating. Okay, for a fruit that looked this poisonous, it sure did taste delicious. I was chewing, relaxed and half-forgetting what I came here for, when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
My hand I was bringing to my lips once more paused mid-air and my body froze. Nearby. There was something nearby and its aura was so heavy, I could feel it. In a moment of panic, I could move again, and I turned left and right frantically searching for what it was that caused such fearful reaction in me.
Right there! Between a few clustered trees, something flashed through the green, black and swift. I jumped to my feet, fruit abandoned. Holy shit, what was I going to do? I'd ventured out into the forest a distance away from the village. I met no one on my way here and unless there were adventurers within the forest, there was no way anyone would hear me out here if I called for help. All I had at my defense was a sharp axe. I didn't have much confidence in this axe if I was being honest.
My eyes flitted around nervously. I couldn't find the thing any more. What the actual fuck was that? Had I imagined it??
I'd only lowered my axe one inch when a mass of darkness flashed in front of me.