Chapter 2

  We hadn’t talked much during the walk across the grass expanse, each of us falling into our own introspection. Still, we were all enthusiastic to have finally reached something that wasn’t endless grass.

  “Ah, good, so good to see clear sign of people!” enthusiastically exclaimed Taliez Wo-macca.

  The man had been more animated than either me or Sasha during our long walk across the grassland, seemingly taking simple joy in the act of moving. Why is he so enthusiastic? Is it because he’s gotten a second chance at life? Or something else? Well, no use to speculate, I’ll just ask him later.

  As we approached the dirt road that bordered the forest, I looked down and sighed in relief as a specific fear of mine was assuaged.

  Sasha looked at me curiously, and I explained, “I was worried this path would be infrequently used since it's only made of dirt, and we seem to be in the middle of nowhere.” I kneeled and pointed to a specific area of the road. “It seems that we don’t have to worry about anyone using this way after all.”

  Small ruts were visible in the road that were likely from a wagon, and alongside them were hoof prints, and if that wasn’t enough evidence, shoe prints were faintly visible in the ground as well. Looks like people have passed through here at least some time recently. Still… horse-drawn wagons? Is this place stuck in the past, or am I really in a fantasy world? I guess it would fit the whole magic system thing.

  Standing up from my ruminations, I turned to face the others. “So, any ideas on what to do next?” I asked, dumping the responsibility of leadership onto the others.

  As Sasha’s face shifted into a contemplative expression, Tailez scratched the back of his head, shrugging as he offered his idea. “The tracks are going in one direction. There will be people there. We just follow the tracks to them.”

  As I was nodding along to his idea, I thought it made sense, but Sasha responded with a curt “No.”

  “Oh? Why not?” Tailez looked at Sasha with curiosity rather than indignation.

  “If we follow the tracks, we will be attempting catch up. There is a likely chance they are faster than us, also, we know not how far the destination of this path is. It may be days or weeks away. No, rather we go the opposite way, with this we are directly approaching anyone following this path.”

  “But what if no one else is taking this path? If we followed the tracks, at least we'd have confirmation that there are actual people we would be heading towards.” I interjected.

  “True. However, if this way were not taken with any regularity a road would not have been built. But yes, there is a chance that we may not find anyone. Still, I believe it is a more significant chance than playing catch-up to a group with supplies and beasts of burden.” Sasha argued, pointing towards the wagon and hoof tracks on the ground to emphasize her point.

  I looked at Tailez, who wore a neutral expression, not particularly caring what we did. And without any further concerns or complaints from me I conceded the argument to Sasha with a nod. In response, her face lit up with what I chose to believe was a smile and not a smirk. Still, this is the most expressive I’ve seen Sasha so far. I wonder if she enjoys arguments and debates like this, well at least winning them. In any case, she’d probably be a good politician back home.

  “Walk on, shall we?” Tailez rumbled, clearly enthused that we’d reached a resolution and were getting back on the move again.

  “Yes, but be active on your awareness, search for sources of water and suitable places we can make camp,” Sasha instructed both of us. Yeah, she brings up a good point. It’s getting late, and I’m feeling a bit parched at the moment, and without water, it’s only going to get worse.

  With me and Tailez indicating in the affirmative, our trio began to walk again, the view ahead thankfully not just more grass.

  We’d only been walking for what I estimated to be about fifteen minutes when I decided to strike up a conversation with the enthusiastic Tailez. “Hey, Tailez, mind if I ask you a question?”

  He stiffened in surprise at my comment before relaxing and turning his head to face me while we walked. “Ask, and I may choose to answer.” He said, slightly mischievously.

  “I heard you mention this earlier, but I’m curious. What’s a Stick Scribe?” I asked. I know what a scribe is, but does a Stick Scribe write stuff down with a stick, or do they write stuff onto sticks?

  It was apparently the latter, as Tailez explained. “Stick Scribes take sticks in pure form and through trained and developed applications of inscription, mana-reactive material, and a variety of other techniques create sticks in their elevated form. The usage of these sticks ranges from the mundane to magical.” That description sounds surprisingly clinical? Corporate? It feels like Tailez repeated that description by rote. But more importantly, magical sticks? That’s awesome! Can he make wizard wands and staffs?

  As I grew increasingly excited about the possibility of having Tailez make me a cool wizard stick. He continued his explanation. “That is part of what our plant manager insisted we memorize. I have only ever inscribed. I was never skilled nor trusted enough to learn the other processes.” He said with the first frown I had seen on the man, although he quickly shifted back to his normal enthusiasm.

  “Hmm, let me show you something.” Tailez finished before he hurried off to the side of the road near the forest, where he began to inspect the fallen sticks available to him.

  I looked at Sasha, but she seemed to be content just to listen in.

  About a minute later, Tailez jogged back to our group, having fallen behind when he was searching for sticks as Sasha and I continued a steady pace.

  Tailez held out the stick he had selected. It was about an inch thick and a few feet long. It was maybe made of oak or at least this world's equivalent, but I wasn’t the expert on sticks there, so I didn’t know for sure. It was the type of stick that would have made a great sword back when I was a kid.

  As Tailez kept the stick held in one hand, he unconsciously moved his other hand down to a loop on his robe, and when he grasped only air. “Ah.” It was the only thing he said, and this time, his displeasure only flickered briefly across his face. Right now, these clothes are the only thing to our name right now. It would have been nice to have my phone, even if it would have been useless when it inevitably would have run out of battery.

  “When I have acquired suitable tools, I would enjoy providing a demonstration of stick scribing,” Tailez said, still with enthusiasm if less than before.

  “Hold and quiet!” Sasha suddenly interrupted. Tailez and I blinked in surprise but complied, and with each of us holding still, we all heard it. A gurgling noise, a tell-tale sign of moving water.

  We all had found ourselves at the edge of the small stream. Its winding path emerged from deeper into the forest, remaining roughly parallel with the forest’s edge before going back again into the forest.

  “Drink from the water that flows, it is cleanest. Stagnant means sickness.” Tailez helpfully supplied.

  We all navigated to the center of the stream, thankfully not having to get wet due to the plentiful stepping stones available.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Kneeling at an area where the water was flowing the fastest, I scooped handful after handful of water out only stopping when I felt my thirst subside, only for gnawing hunger to replace it. Who would have thought walking all day would make you so thirsty and hungry?

  But food would become a serious issue soon, and I contemplated possible solutions as I made my way back to shore. And since I wasn’t distracted by the need to get water in my body, I realized something interesting about the surrounding area. There is clear human influence here, or at least sapient influence. I don’t know if this world’s natural inhabitants are elves or something.

  There weren’t any trees between the road and stream, even though the stream was a good few hundred feet deep into the forest area. The second piece of evidence was the stream bank I was currently standing on. The gradient was too smooth; nowhere else in the stream was similar. I suspected it was used to let animals get a drink from the stream. This place really reminds me of something…

  Sasha hopped onto the shore beside me, and Tailez shortly followed. “Can you all look for something for me? I think I figured out something about this place.”

  “Oh? Do tell.” Sasha inquired.

  “See if you can spot any campfires or at least the remains of one. If you see a circle of rocks, let me know as well.” They both looked a bit confused but nodded at the request, and we each went searching.

  A little while later, I heard a call and made my way to the source. At the feet of Sasha Highwalker was a ring of stone surrounding a pile of ashes. Score! I know exactly what place this is.

  Tailez jogged up to us, his eyes widening in understanding as he looked down at the campfire circle on the ground. Sasha looked between us, understanding that Tailez and I both had an understanding of what this meant, but she lacked any understanding.

  “This place is a campsite.” Sasha nodded, but her confusion remained clear. “Right now, it’s late afternoon, not quite evening. I bet there is a high chance that a group of people will be stopping here for the night.” I explained. It might just be hopeful thinking, but since there is clear access to water here and this area is cleared with evidence of it already being used as a campsite, if I were a traveler, I would plan to stay the night at a place like this.

  “If that is truly the case, then we must prepare,” Sasha said, her face set with determination.

  “Prepare? I would be the upmost curious as to what is in your mind.” Tailez replied before I could.

  “Most importantly, we must not reveal our origins lest they think us mad or worse. They believe us.”

  After about what felt like an hour of us listening to Sasha as she drilled us on a rough backstory that we could hopefully mold, with increasing believability, as we learned more about the world, Tailez and I went around the campsite looking for anything useful.

  “Find something we can use?” I asked Tailez as he kneeled down to grab something off the ground.

  “I have great confidence I will extract use out of this. Stow these stones in your pockets.” Tailez requested as he began to hand me a certain type of stone from the ground. Soon, the pockets of my cargo pants were filled with these stones.

  We walked back to the fire circle, and Tailez placed a larger and flat stone down on the ground. “A sufficient work surface for the immediate.”

  I handed him one of the rocks, and after he had carefully positioned it on his work surface, he took a different rock and struck them together in a specific way. Wait, isn’t this knapping? Like how Stone Age tools were made?

  I watched Tailez continue to strike the rocks together, but then he let out a sigh and threw away the stone with which he was working. “It seems this skill of mine has gone unused for too long.”

  “Were you trying to make a tool that would let you inscribe the stick?” I guessed, pointing to the stick which was leaning against a rock.

  Tailez nodded. “I was hopeful I had retained the capability to make tools such as these, but it has been too many years.”

  “Maybe I could give it a try.” I offered as I sat down next to the temporary work surface. Wordlessly, Tailez handed me a rock to use, and I placed it on the work surface.

  Taking another rock that I could use to chip at the one lying before me, I began to ponder what would be the best way to do this. I need to strike this at an angle, right? It’s been a while since I did wilderness survival back when I was still in Scouts.

  I created a mental image of what I was going to do. If I’m envisioning this correctly… What the hell?

  While I maintained the mental image of how I was going to knap the rock, it was like there was an option available in my mind. It's like there are these mental dials I can turn. And there is this mental button here that will activate whatever this thing is? Ok, seriously, what the hell is going on?

  I unfocused on my mental image, and the strange sensation went away, and when I recreated the vision, the mental control panel returned. Wait, this might be related to the System. I’ve been able to summon and dismiss it mentally.

  “Hey, Tailez, I’m going to try something that I think may be related to my System,” I warned him. He simply raised an eyebrow in expectation. I don’t get the sense that anything bad will happen if I use this. Ah, what the hell, we ball, let’s do this.

  Once again, creating a mental image of knapping the stone, I left the settings on the mental controls to their default state and mentally pressed what I was pretty sure was the activate button.

  There was no flash of light, no loud noise, no ding, just a thoughtful hum from Tailez. I blinked at him, and he pointed at the work surface. Sitting there was a knapped blade. It was rough around the edges, but I knew for a fact that there hadn't been a blade sitting there before. I picked it up and turned it around to inspect it further. Huh, it honestly looks like something I could have made with an hour of effort. Wait a second, an hour?

  I mentally called up the System and looked through it, and sure enough, one thing had changed.

  So, WH means Work Hours? Or at least something similar, as each unit represents an hour's worth of… well, work. I wonder what I can use it for? And how do I get more?

  “May I?” Tailez rumbled, breaking me out of my thoughts. I handed him the small blade, letting him inspect it.

  “Shoddy. But not so bad for a beginner. It will be sufficient for now.” He commented as he looked over my System-Worked blade.

  “I think my System used my actual experience in knapping to make that. basically, there would be an equivalent result if I spent an hour of effort on it.” I explained to Tailez.

  “Hmm, how much can you use this ability?” He asked curiously.

  “I think I have twenty-four hours of total capacity. I used one hour to make this blade, so I have twenty-three work hours remaining. I’m not sure how I get more hours, though.”

  “Quite useful nonetheless.” Tailez rumbled contemplatively. “Try using your ability to gather sticks.” He suggested.

  I nodded as I thought it would be an interesting test and imagined myself going around collecting sticks from the area and putting them into a pile next to the campfire circle. The mental control panel reappeared in my mind. This time, I was a bit more certain about what the different controls did. I was pretty sure what the first dial does. At the moment, it had twenty-three notches to it. When I used it before, it had twenty-four. I think this sets what amount of Work Hours are used. I’ll keep this dial set to one for now, so I don’t burn through too much WH during my testing.

  The second dial I was feeling less sure about. I think this one might be how much time is spent on quality vs quantity? It doesn’t feel like a perfect analogy, though.

  The final dial felt like it changed my range of influence. Right now, it feels like it’s capped at a range of about 100 feet in a circle around me. Still, it reaches far enough into the forest that plenty of sticks should be within range.

  Keeping the mental view of piling up sticks clear in my mind, I kept the WH dial to 1, set the second dial to focus on quantity, and set the range dial to its maximum 100 feet. Finally, I pressed the activate button in my mind and suddenly sitting next to the campfire, there was a large haphazard pile of sticks. If I had set it to focus on quality rather than quantity, would the sticks have been piled in a more organized fashion?

  Deciding to try it out, I imagined moving the sticks to the other side of the campfire circle, but this time, I set the dial to focus on quality rather than quantity. The sticks simply reappeared on the other side of the campfire in an instant, but this time, the sticks were organized in neat stacks based on their size rather than one big pile.

  “Hmm, useful indeed. Can you use your ability to move yourself? Or move me?” Tailez asked his previous enthusiasm returning to his voice.

  Nodding again, I imagined walking over to the other side of the campground, but the control panel didn’t appear. I then tried visualizing picking Tailez up, then moving him across the campground, and once again, no response.

  “Yeah, it's not working… Let me try something else. Can you hold this stick?” I asked him while I grabbed a stick from one of the piles.

  When he had the stick in his hand, I tried using my System to move the stick from his grip and onto the ground, but the panel wouldn’t respond. I had him set the stick at his feet and still, my System would not respond. After a few more tests, I determined a few key things.

  Firstly, it seemed that I couldn’t directly affect Tailez or myself, although this seemed to be more extreme for Tailez. I could move the stick I’m holding from my hand to the ground, but I couldn’t do the same for Tailez. In fact, Tailez had a small area a few feet around him that I could not influence at all. There goes any possibility of me becoming a master pickpocket. But seriously, what’s causing that restriction? His system?

  As Tailez and I were about to discuss what we should try next with the System, we both heard a shout.

  Running towards us, her back to the road, I could barely make out the words Sasha was calling out to us. “Someone’s here!”

  And as Sasha finally reached us, panting, at the campfire circle, sure enough, in the light of the setting sun, a pair of horses pulled a wagon into view.

  As the driver wheeled their wagon into the campsite, a sense of apprehension washed over our group. Hopefully, we would finally get answers.