I quickly put some distance between myself and my former party. While it certainly felt good to storm out of there, I soon realized that I had not given the matter much practical consideration — I was almost out of money. Twenty bronze coins — nowhere near enough for a room. Gref still had the crystal that the beast dropped, and why wouldn't he want to split it three ways instead of four?

  As I neared the city gates, I looked for the friendly face of the guard captain, but he wasn’t there. His boorish assistant stopped me. I flashed my guild badge and walked past him without a word.

  I still had two hours left before I had to give up my room in the inn. I decided to enjoy the last vestiges of comfort before they were taken away from me. After a nice bath, I settled down on the soft bed. Sleeping on the hard ground outside wouldn’t be the same. I stared at the stain on the ceiling — a large splotch in the shape of betrayal and abandonment.

  I considered my options – leaving the city gates to set up my barrier somewhere outside seemed the wiser choice than spending the night in some back alley. The stretch of land between Palomp and the outpost was perhaps the safest. I pulled up my system messages to distract myself from my thoughts. The only message that awaited me was a welcome surprise.

  Willpower + 1

  How? … Was it the natural progression of the attribute? What had the system said about that? It was harder to increase the attributes naturally if they were high enough, which wasn’t an issue with my willpower. It had been put through a lot recently — enough to force a natural leap. I thought of all the possibilities. ‘Was there a way to raise my imagination? Should I take up painting?’, I wondered.

  I had more questions that needed answers and I knew just the right person to pester. “System, there was a moment there earlier today, when I lost my focus, but the spell didn’t fizzle out as expected”, I mentally queried the stand-in damsel. When I had tripped earlier, while fleeing from the rheinfrets, I was certain the blinding aura would disappear, but it didn’t.

  Yet again, there was no response from the system. “Come to think of it, you have been silent since yesterday — since the matter with the fruit vendor. Did you get a telling off for interfering?”

  “You are remarkably upbeat for someone who was recently kicked out of their party”, a voice replied in my head. The system finally made an appearance.

  The nature of the question that finally forced her to come out of hiding didn’t escape me. Did I come too close to the truth? I fully expected the gods to reprimand the System for doing precisely what was expected of her. A superior who would ask you to come up with a solution for their mess, without ever telling you how to, only to then blame you for overstepping — that probably summed up the gods of this world.

  I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and answered her, “It would take a lot more to bring me down. I’m unfazed”.

  “Uh-huh”, the System made a noise that often accompanied an unconvinced nod of acknowledgement.

  “System, do some skills and traits have additional features not mentioned in their description?”

  “If it is a feature that didn’t consistently activate with all test subjects or if it failed more often than not, there is a chance it was not heavily advertised and was left out of the description. Underpromise and overdeliver, not the other way round. You can also expect no system assistance for the activation of those features”.

  No system assistance for the unlisted features. How did that work? Did I have to train them myself? I still needed specific confirmation, so I asked, “Was that why the blinding radiance spell kept going, despite my loss of focus? Some hidden feature of the skill?”

  System’s template response arrived, “The creators of this world would like its residents to work out the rules of this world on their own..”

  Why the hesitation to confirm something that she had already admitted in a more general sense? Was I on the wrong track? Was it not a hidden feature of the blinding radiance spell?

  Moving on to the next question, I queried, “The rheinfrets were in serious discomfort when they were within the range of the blinding aura, and I don’t mean just the blinding effect. A hidden feature of the skill or something else?”

  The System was a broken record. “The creators of this world would like its residents to work out the rules of this world on their...”

  I cut her off. “You’ve given me that speech yesterday”. I was on the verge of pulling my hair out. I took a deep breath and continued, “I have given some thought on that matter since then and I think I understand why the creators ask you to withhold information”

  The system tried to feign disinterest, but still raised the question, “And what did you come to learn?”

  “Before I answer, how much do you know about earth and its culture?” I answered her question with one of my own.

  “Every instance of the system comes pre-loaded with information on their assigned hero’s world of origin. But this has proven especially challenging with your world. It has put considerable strain on my resources. Your people try to fit half a dozen pop-culture references into a single sentence. My circuits are fried, going through endless volumes on trends, memes and mainstream culture. And how does anyone keep up with all the media?” It was rare to see the System so worked up about something. The system regained its composure and summarized, “I have just about enough knowledge to pretend that I know what I am talking about”.

  “I suppose it is no different than when people claim they’ve read shakespeare. You make for a passable impression of a human”, I replied.

  “I was going for a passable impression of a human”, the system responded dryly.

  “That should make it easy enough for me to explain. There was once a movie in my old world. The director’s vision was butchered by the studio, and the film was trimmed down considerably in its final cut. A lot of the questions remained unanswered, but the viewers filled in the missing bits with their own interpretations. They let their imagination run wild – strange theories popped up in the far corners of the internet. Over time, the movie developed something of a cult following and a director’s cut was greenlit. A lot of the missing scenes found their way back into the film. Most things were now explained and nothing was left unresolved. Guess what happened?”

  The system briefly considered my words before answering, “People were relieved to finally have all the loose ends tied up? Grateful for closure?”

  I smiled. “The new version of the movie was universally panned. When every mystery was answered, people saw it for what it was”.

  The system interrupted me, “And the point you are trying to make – sometimes, less is better? Some mystery must be preserved to let others interpret things the way they choose? That people are more satisfied with their own conjured up versions of events? I keep enough from you as it is. You don’t need to lecture me to leave room for mystery”.

  I shook my head. “No, the point is that it was never so deep to begin with. When you stare at the lake from afar, there is the promise of unseen depths and hidden secrets, but when you wade into it, it’s just shallow and knee-deep. Same as this world —”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I continued, “You may dress it up with numbers and primers all you wish, embellish it with metaphorical cups and symbolism, but when you take it all apart and break it down to the bare bones, it’s just another world where the strong devours the weak, another excuse for a brute with a cudgel to beat everything to a pulp”.

  “The creators of this world withhold information, afraid that when the curtain is pulled back and everyone has a good look at their creation, they will see it for what it truly is”, I hammered down my point.

  There was silence for the longest time.

  “This sudden rant – what brought this on?” There was some concern in the System's voice.

  “I am not sure”, I lied.

  She asked softly, “You aren’t entirely unfazed as you claim, are you?”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. The last three days flashed before my eyes — everything I went through. Something trickled down my cheek.

  The system continued, “Do you know why the brutes are so much better at adjusting to this world than most?”

  I couldn’t answer, caught up in my own internal turmoil.

  “It’s because they leave all the thinking to others. Ponder over it, Alysa”, she said, as her presence slowly faded from my mind.

  ‘Ponder over it’, she had said. Ponder over a message that advised against too much thinking? That wonderful irony-impaired system.

  I wasn’t sure how long I lay there on the bed after that, staring at that dreadful ceiling. Eventually, I threw everything I owned into my satchel and left the inn. I walked in the direction of the guild. I had to find a new party to join.

  The night had fallen some time ago, but the stubborn town cared nought for such an insignificant detail. I walked past several shops, before finally stopping outside a peculiar store. The sign next to the door had a drawing of a crystal and the name written on it identified the store as ‘Enchanted moon’. There were several items displayed through the big window, but one in particular caught my eye. It was a wand, of sorts. I used my identify skill on the wand to see if I could learn more.

  Wand of clarity.

  An enchanted wand that bestows its user with +1 focus*.

  *Assuming the stat limit from items hasn’t been crossed.

  An item that gave a stat boost? I quickly made my way into the store. An old dwarf sat behind the desk. I pointed to the wand that was displayed next to the window and asked, “How much for the wand?”

  Of course, I didn’t have much money, but there was nothing wrong with having long-term aspirations — no harm in dreaming of luxury cars before you can afford a bicycle.

  “It’s meant for a mage”, contempt coated his words.

  “You are looking at one”, I replied.

  He studied me. He wasn’t entirely convinced, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Ten gold”, he stated flatly. Okay, really, long-term aspiration — way into the future.

  I turned to leave, but my eyes settled on a wooden statue in a corner. It held an axe in its hands, with the blade raised up above its head. I was strangely drawn to the wooden figure. “W-What is that thing?”

  The dwarf had gone back to reading something and wasn’t particularly pleased when I interrupted him. He looked up to see what had caught my attention. “It’s a Lumberjack automa thirty-two”, he replied, as if it was common knowledge.

  “A-Automa”, unconsciously repeating the word, I focused on the wooden axe-wielding figure again.

  Noticing my sense of wonder, the shopkeeper questioned, “Are you some country bumpkin who has never seen a construct before?”

  “What does it do?”

  He sighed. “It’s a lumberjack, lass. It chops wood”.

  “So, if I tell it to chop the wood, will it do that for me?”

  “It’s a construct. You don’t tell it to do anything. You operate it with the lever on its back and the buttons on its side. It’s perhaps out of your price range, lass”. He was clearly telling me to stop bothering him if I didn’t have the coin.

  “How much does it cost?”, I asked anyway.

  “Four gold and I’ll be making a loss”, he replied. I grimaced – I had not even seen a gold coin yet.

  My mind went back to his exact words from before. “You called it lumberjack thirty-two. What does the number stand for? Thirty-second in a line of failed lumberjack models? Strange, impersonal naming sense with numbers?”

  “ Thirty two unique poses, lass. This is a basic model that comes equipped with five walking poses, six poses for change of direction and the rest for swinging an axe and bringing it back up”.

  “There are better models then?”

  “ Not one you can afford and certainly not available here in Palomp. You can find one in the capital, or get an enchanter to etch more poses into the crystal and have a craftsman build a model with more freedom of movement — more freely movable joints and less rigid material”. So the poses had to be written into the crystal? I looked around the shop again and realization dawned on me. The name of the store – ‘Enchanted moon’ — this entire shop featured enchanted items.

  I gave the wooden figure a closer look. A socket was carved into it, a few inches right of where a human heart should have been. A second socket sat further below, but it was already fitted with a dull, brown crystal. The crystal had fine patterns etched into it —the prewritten poses perhaps? The wooden figure had grooves cut into its surface – pathways that connected various joints to the empty socket in the middle.

  “Can I see it in action?”, I asked.

  The shopkeeper groaned. “It cost me ten bronze coins to charge up that power core”. The implication was clear. I made a small bronze tower in front of him that was ten coins tall. ‘Yes, quite prudent to throw away half your savings on a puppet show’, I mentally chided myself, but my curiosity had won out.

  Pocketing the coins, the dwarf stood up. He walked towards the wooden golem and inserted a blue magic core into the empty slot. The moment the core was locked in place, energy radiated outwards from it, lighting up the meridians that traced paths all through the wooden surface.

  The shopkeeper stepped closer to the construct and moved the lever upwards. The lumberjack trembled and came to life. One foot after the other, the wooden figure lumbered through the length of the room. Its movements were slow and rigid, perhaps down to its fewer number of prewritten poses, or perhaps it was restricted by the limits placed on the movement of its joints. The shopkeeper maneuvered the lever to direct the golem to a far corner of the room, where an old wooden crate sat neglected. Once the crate entered the swinging range, the man pressed a button to bring the golem to a halt. The shopkeeper opened a lid to reveal a hidden button — a safety feature? The man pressed down the big red button. The axe went up and came down fast on the crate, splintering the wood.

  I felt a tug from deep within me – a skill reaching out? I felt the same source that called me, also seeking out the wooden golem, attempting to make a connection, but something hindered my will from taking control of the construct, some unknown requirement not met. Ownership — I knew almost instinctively. The wooden golem wasn’t mine to take control.

  I scanned through my list of skills to see what had caused it. I knew the suspect. I pulled up the information on the innate trait that I had not yet found a way to use.

  Parallel thought- Threads may be allocated to control copies of oneself, unintelligent summons or creations.

  Starts with a single new thread of thought. Grants additional threads of thought at higher levels.

  The wooden Golem counted as a creation. This particular golem was of no use to me, but if the shopkeeper was right, there were ways to improve it.

  In its present form, the golem still moved without the need for a consciousness. What would my threads of thought replace then? The golem would still need the power cores to function. The crystals embedded with instructions on how to move? No, my threads weren’t a substitute for that either. The thread would replace the manual controls — the levers and buttons! It wouldn’t need an operator to make it function.

  A smile appeared on my face. It would take a really long time and I would need to save up a lot of gold, but a rudimentary plan was taking shape in my head — I would be my own brute, armed with a cudgel preferably.

  Here is Alysa's SP and AP balance sheet:

  Alysa's System points (SP)

  Purchase cost of skills (in SP) : 2,4,6 for Low(L), Intermediate (I), Advanced skills(A) respectively.

  Skill rank upgrade requires 1 SP per rank up.

  Skill evolution : Free (Requirement- a skill reaches rank 5 and an evolution path exists)

  Alysa's Attribute points (AP)

  Finally crossed 150+ pages!