“I looked at hers. It’s only fair that she look at mine,” I said. The guide was talking to me as I walked back to the hamlet.

  I was confused. Cassana seemed all right with the apology, but wouldn’t let me buy anything. So, I offered to let her inspect me. The refusal was curt.

  “Do you have any idea how childish that sounds?”

  I folded my arms.

  “Look if I’m going to get a handle on this stuff I need to know when I am being scanned. She could obviously tell when I looked at her accidentally.”

  “Accidentally?”

  “Yes, accidentally. How many times do I have to tell you and her I was trying to see the jacket?”

  “I was there,” came the amused voice. “I know what you started to look at and when your attention shifted.”

  “Good then you know I was looking at the jacket and she stepped in the way.”

  The guide’s laugh was warm. “You could have stopped or looked away.”

  “What are you talking about? I can’t look away! The screen moves when I move. I can’t get it out of my sight. And how do you stop? I said the word, ‘inspect’ and it happened.”

  “Abort,” was the immediate reply.

  “Now you tell me the way to stop? Thanks.”

  “Really? You never thought of that word? How about, ‘Stop’? That works too.”

  Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. I felt a bit of warmth come into my cheeks.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Yeah, I should have thought of that.”

  Then I straightened my shoulders. “Anyway, I figure if she reads me then we’ll be even.”

  “Men! How will you be even? You are asking her to look at your stats, but she never asked to see them!”

  My shoulders slumped a bit. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Besides it wouldn’t work. She can’t see them.”

  “Huh? Why? She’s miles higher than I am. She should be able to read them easily.”

  “She’s not miles higher than you, and she’s not miles higher than the gods. And they have decided no one can read your stats but you. And not all of them until you are level 7.”

  “Even if I give permission?

  “Yes, until you reach level 7 and pledge to a god or goddess, most of your stats are sealed from all eyes - including yours. You can see others, but not your own.”

  I could hear the sigh sliding out of my mouth as my lungs emptied.

  “Maybe I should let her kill me a few times?”

  “I doubt she wants to do that now that she knows you were simply a clueless child.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” I felt like a child. It was a strange sensation. A part of me felt like this shyness around Cassana was not me. I should be more… something. But I didn’t know what.

  There was only one thing to do.

  “Fine,” I said. “I can’t fix this so I’m leaving.”

  “What! You are just going to leave?” Said my guide.

  “Yes. There is no reason to stay in a situation that I cannot fix. I’ll go back to Fishhook and buy a loaf of bread. From there I can get instructions on how to move to the next town.”

  “You have quests in this area.”

  “Quests I do not know how to complete and which you cannot give me information about.”

  “You have a commitment to these people.”

  “No, I don’t. The big voice gave me the quests. No one here or in Fishhook have asked me to do anything after I killed the rats. Most would be happy to see me gone.”

  He could hear the reprimand in her voice.

  “You should at least try to complete the quests.”

  “And why would I want to do anything sent by a bunch of gods who have killed me off five - no six - times?”

  I would have been interested in her reply, but just then a new message popped up on my screen.

  “THE HAMLET OF FISHHOOK IS UNDER ATTACK!”

  “Attackers will go after the tannery and the leather worker’s shops first. They are outside of the walls,” said my guide.

  “Damn.”

  I unslung my bow and reached for an arrow. I turned from the road and began to run back towards Cassana’s.