I awoke in a field of tall grass, looking up I could see it was a clear day, perfect weather for a resurrection if you ask me, well... At least until I felt something wet hit my face.
I sighed softly as a sat up, taking stock of my surroundings while storm clouds loomed overhead, with me I had my old clothes, my backpack which only had three days rations, and lastly, my hunting knife.
I set the bag on my back and picked a direction to start walking, it took mere moments for the storm to pick up, high winds threatening to topple me, and ice cold rain soaked my clothes, I had to crawl, gripping the grass just to stay on track.
Some second chance this was!, if the storm didn't kill me, pneumonia certainaly would, and I haven't even met a single person yet, I just had to pray the direction I was headed would have civilization or else I was irreparably fucked on day one.
I breathed heavily as I crawled along the grassy field, after hours of desperate crawling, I looked up to see if I was any closer to civilization.
To my surprise, I had actually made it to a town, seizing this opportunity I walked into the town, looking for a place I could hide from the storm.
I saw lights on inside a building, it looked like a tavern, but I couldn't be sure since the sign hanging by the door swung violently in the wind, I slowly made my way to the building and opened the door, I quickly entered the tavern and shut the door behind me.
As I looked around, it seemed I was right, there were many people sitting around tables and enjoying drinks, or at least they would be if they weren't all staring at me.
They stared at me as if I were some sort of freak, guess that's not far off, I did just come in from a storm, my clothes were completely soaked through, and I was chilled to the bone, it was a miracle I was still standing, I guess barbarian classes have some pretty useful buffs.
It didn't take long for me to pass out, as I had spent all my energy getting here, and fell to the tavern floor, barely able to stand.
Next thing I knew, I was in a comfortable bed, opening my eyes and taking a look around from where I laid, it looked like a medieval medical ward, I around me were people in silk robes, going about there business in the rest of the medical area, one of these robed individuals came over to me, he was an old man, his hair thin and grey, and he was quite short in stature, his pale blue eyes looking me over, "oh good, you're awake, are you feeling any better?" The man spoke softly, relieved with my improving condition, "now then, I guess we should get down to business, what's your name?" The man brought out a notepad and pen, probably to record my answers, "my name is William Mason" the man nodded as he wrote down my name, "and what were you doing in that storm?", I frowned softly as I tried to remember, "I'm not sure entirely... It was all such a rush, I think I just kind of appeared in the middle of it", that wasn't totally a lie, but I thought it best to refrain from mentioning any details of my reincarnation, he looked at me suspiciously, "right... Do you happen to remember where you're from?", He kept writing in his notepad.
I thought about his question for a moment, "not really, sorry... Can't exactly remember much of anything, I remember pieces, mostly fights... And I remember the field, but not much else I'm afraid", I frowned softly, unfortunately that was entirely true, I was hardly able to remember my past life, just the intense moments, the memories I valued, or at least I think so, it's hard to remember what you don't remember.
I sighed softly and rubbed my forehead, doing so hurt, perhaps I hit my head and that's why my memories are fuzzy?
I looked over at the man, "when will I be able to leave?", the man continued writing in his notepad, "in a couple hours you'll be good as new, then you can go about your business, whatever that may be", he spoke calmly, but I could tell he was wary of me, "thanks, I appreciate you helping me", the man smiled softly, "think nothing of it, and please, call me Joshua, I'm the head cleric of this clinic", I smiled back to him as I sat up in my bed, "it's nice to meet you, Joshua".
A few hours later I was released from the clinic and all my stuff was returned to me in fairly good condition, they refused compensation, although even if they did accept, I was flat broke, and had no way of making a living, on top of that I learned that I couldn't read, the words and letters they used were completely foreign to me, a bit of an oversight to give me the ability to understand the language and communicate, but also make me completely illiterate.
I walked around the town, it looked like your average medieval European village you'd see in movies or read about in stories, it was a pretty nice place, and a goldmine of a location.
This town was located near a beach, fertile farmland, a dense forest, and a deep mine which also housed a dungeon, basically this town had endless potential and was extremely profitable for its relative size, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a job.
I went to the tavern I'd passed out in the night before, looking around it wasn't too busy, must still be early in the day, walking up to the counter I was greeted by a short and stocky woman, she was built like a steel barrel, with long braided black hair, and amber eyes, I was pretty sure she was a dwarf, "welcome to the Drake's Head Tavern & Inn, I'd say it's a bit early to start drinking, but then I'd be a hypocrite" she laughed at her joke and smiled politely up at me, "can I get you anything?" She asked as she pulled out a menu for me to browse, "actually I was looking for a job, if you have anything that needs to get done, I'm willing to do it".
She thought on that for a moment, "well we are in the market for a new bouncer, and you look like just the kind of guy for the job, however you'll have to talk to Connor, he's the owner of this establishment".
She stepped away from the counter and lead me to a door near the back, "my name's Amathyst Copper, how about you?", she asked as we walked through the kitchen, "William Mason, it's a pleasure to meet you" I responded as we reached a second door.
Amathyst stopped at the door, "alright, I'll go talk to Connor, then I'll let you introduce yourself", she walked into the office while I stayed put, waiting till she was done.
After a few minutes, Amathyst exited the office, seeming quite pleased, "alright William, Connor will see you now".
I smiled gratefully and thanked Amathyst before walking into the office, sitting behind a desk was a man who seemed to be in his mid 30's, his hair a dark grey, and his eyes were dark brown, he stared straight at me with an expression I couldn't read.
"Come in, William was it?" Connor spoke in a gruff but kind tone, definitely showing his age, he gestured for me to sit in a chair across from him and I did so, the chair felt a little small, then again, most things did now, had I gotten bigger?, I cleared my head of that thought, now wasn't the time, getting this job was more important.
I eventually replied to my potential employer, "yes, I heard you were looking for a bouncer, and was hoping I could take up the position".
Connor hummed and nodded thoughtfully, "yes, we are currently looking for a replacement, our last bouncer, Durward, retired recently and it's been hard trying to find a suitable replacement, are you sure you're up for the task?".
I nodded confidently, "yes sir, I will do my best to keep the peace in your establishment", Connor smiled as he stood up, "very good, and since you're new here I'll explain the situation, you'll be paid two gold pieces a night, one gold will get you a room for a week, but the employment discount brings that to seven silver pieces, you'll be working nights from dusk to dawn, your job is to make sure none of the patrons get out of hand, if a bar fight starts, you end it, are we clear?", I nodded to him as I stood up, "clear", Connor walked up and shook my hand, "terrific, anything I should be aware of before we start? If there's anything you need help with, let me know", he smiled joyfully, letting go of my hand, it's only now I realized, pretty much everyone was shorter than me, how the hell did I get this tall all of a sudden?
Another thought crept in my mind, Connor had just said he could provide help for any problems I might have, now was my chance to address an issue that would plague me for the foreseeable future if I didn't fix it now, "well... Now that you mention it, I can't read".