《The Fabled Islands》 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The chirping of a bird snapped me away from my dreams. I opened my eyes and found a blue robin perched on my shoulder. It tilted its head and pecked me lightly on the ear. I rubbed underneath its beak with a finger while saying, ¡°Hey, good morning to you too.¡± It jumped off my pillow and landed on my dresser. I rolled my eyes and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± It hopped up and down, indicating for me to get dressed quickly. I took the sheets off of me before jumping out of bed and stretching lightly. The robin chirped at me anxiously. I walked over to the dresser and picked out my clothes for the day. After putting them on, I asked it a question, ¡°Where¡¯s Xer? I don¡¯t sense him in the house.¡± The robin flew towards my window and chirped as it hopped up and down. I widened my eyes in surprise and asked, ¡°He¡¯s gone!? What do you mean?¡± I rushed over to the robin and beckoned for it to speak, ¡°Explain.¡± The robin gestured with its head and flapped its wings. My eyes lit up as I confirmed what it said, ¡°He left a note and isn¡¯t coming back?!¡± The robin nodded. I ran out of my room and entered the kitchen. Aha! On the table was a rune. I rushed up to the rune and activated it. The mana which formed the rune collapsed and formed words in the air above the table. I quickly read the message, growing more and more excited as I did. ¡°Dear Tristan, Something important came up, something so important I couldn¡¯t just ignore it. We haven¡¯t finished your training, but I¡¯m still confident in you. You¡¯re on your own, punk. I¡¯m writing this message instead of saying goodbye in person because I hate goodbyes. Too sappy. Although, as long as you walk your own road, we¡¯ll meet again eventually. As for when, that¡¯s up to you. The Fabled Islands are enormous and filled with danger, so take your time. Don¡¯t rush it. Now time for some rules. #1 Never tell people my name. Just say you were raised by your Grandpa, and that he passed away. #2 Never show off your full power. #3 Be cautious of humans. #4 Don¡¯t tell anybody my name.¡± I quickly skimmed through the list of rules. When I reached the bottom, the message dispersed into thin air. Wait, what was rule seventeen again? Oh well, who cares. More importantly, I¡¯m finally free! Yes, free! I no longer have to follow Xer¡¯s stupid training regimens. I can finally advance to the next island! Yes, yes, yes, finally! ¡°Go gather everyone so that I can say goodbye,¡± I said to the robin. The robin chirped before flying out of the open window. I went back to my room and began to store all of my belongings into my inventory. After finishing that, I equipped my set of adventuring gear.
Crude A linen jerkin fashioned for a young adult. Made by hand by an inexperienced tailor. Old, but well taken care of. Provides no stats, purely cosmetic.
Crude Linen pants fashioned for a young adult. Made by hand by an inexperienced tailor. Old, but well taken care of. Provides no stats, purely cosmetic.
Crude Leather belt with pockets attached for utility. Provides no stats, purely cosmetic.
Crude Leather satchel. Stuffed inside are Roye herbs. When chewed and applied to a wound it will stifle bleeding.
Crude Leather satchel. Stuffed inside are Ferl herbs. Will dull sense of touch slightly when rubbed on skin.
Attached to my belt were a variety of bags that might be useful when out adventuring. I always liked to keep them handy just in case of emergencies. I wore linen pants and a linen jerkin with a long sleeved shirt underneath. I had to make them myself because of Xe- Ahem, Grandpa¡¯s unique perspective on wearing clothes. In the past, I entered a village naked only to be quickly chased out. I learned later that it was normal for humans to wear clothes. Anyway, I only made one set when I tried tailoring. I¡¯ve used them for years now, and I¡¯m quite proud of my creation. They¡¯re a little worse for wear, but they get the job done. I glanced around my room to make sure I got everything. Finding that I wasn¡¯t missing anything, I waved goodbye and quickly exited the small wooden house. As I ran off the premises, I shouted backwards, ¡°Farewell, small prison! Hello, big open world!¡± Even though I knew everything there was to know about Pinewood Forest, everything seemed different. For years, I wasn¡¯t allowed to move as I wished. Now, as I ran in the directions I chose, it was different. There was freedom. I decided to run around the forest one last time before leaving for good. I was filled with excitement, so much excitement that I started to skip and hop through the forest. I even hummed a little tune. What am I going to do first? Spend some money? Visit a town? Or should I head straight to the gateway? No, wait, I forgot I have one last dungeon to do before leaving the Fertility Island. A loud howl pierced through the forest, interrupting my train of thought. I stopped in place and perked my ears. Oh, isn¡¯t that the howl of the boss of Pinewood Forest? Someone must be fighting him. I guess I¡¯ll check it out. I ran towards the center of the forest. The boss of Pinewood Forest, Little Fang, never left his territory. Even if you hung a piece of meat just outside his territory, he wouldn¡¯t leave. I quickly reached the location of Little Fang. There was a lot of shrubbery surrounding his territory, so I climbed a nearby tree and stood on a branch to get a better view. Oh, a female. She¡¯s wearing simple linen clothes like I am. She¡¯s wielding an iron sword in her right hand and a triangular shield in her left. Hm, she¡¯s alone? Let me inspect her.
You have cast the spell, ''Inspect''.
She didn¡¯t have any warding against the spell, so it went off without a hitch. Her stats and abilities appeared in front of me via a transparent screen.
Name: Sophia Title: None
Age: 17 Race: Human
Health: 20/20 Health Regeneration: .1/m
Stamina: 12/20 Stamina Regeneration: .1/m
Strength: 16 Vitality: 10
Agility: 14 Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Skills
Sword Mastery Novice - 8
Shield Mastery Beginner - 4
Soul Manifestation ??
Oh, I didn''t expect that. To have a skill in the novice stage at such a young age, this meant she was either a genius or had a good teacher. I can see she uses a shield, but her skill with it is an entire tier lower. Huh, I guess my inspect skill isn¡¯t high enough to see her soul manifestation yet. She¡¯s also the same age as me. With her stats and skills, she would easily be able to beat Little Fang. Although, I do wonder if she knows about Little Fang¡¯s skill? Well, I¡¯ll wait and see. Little Fang¡¯s appearance actually betrayed his name. He was a black wolf that reached as high as the average person¡¯s waist. He was quite the big wolf. He was classified as a boss, but only Beginner grade. Even so, it was quite hard to kill him alone. Sophia was doing a good job at dodging his pounces. Little Fang would continuously jump backwards before pouncing in for the kill. As long as you dodged the pounce, you could get in a hit or two.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Sophia wasn¡¯t bad, she was going to win as long as she dodged the only skill of the boss. She continued to whittle down the health of the boss, and it finally reached critical levels. Little Fang once again jumped back and prepared to pounce. This time, when his pounce failed, a miraculous effect occurred. The body of the wolf glowed white when it landed. The wolf seemed to move at the speed of light as its body recovered its posture immediately. Sophia was caught off guard as Little Fang pounced again. Yeah, see, she didn¡¯t know about this skill. Little Fang swiped its claw across Sophia¡¯s chest. Her linen shirt offered no defense as it was torn apart. Deep, long gashes appeared on her chest. Yikes, she didn¡¯t even use her shield properly there. Well, it makes sense, she only has beginner 4 shield mastery. She did one thing right, though. She pierced her sword through Little Fang¡¯s chest when it pounced onto her. Little Fang¡¯s body fell onto her and they both collapsed to the ground. In a flash of light, Little Fang¡¯s body disappeared. In its place was a bloody leather pelt, a few copper coins, and a stack of raw meat. I shook my head in disappointment, there was no fang drop. Little Fang had a low chance of dropping a sharp tooth which could be fashioned into a dagger. I made one of my own, but its old and cracked now. Anyway, perhaps I should check up on Sophia? I pushed off the branch I was standing on and flew through the air. I landed not far from Sophia. Little Fang¡¯s territory was an open clearing in the forest, so she snapped her head over to me and gave me a wary look. I paused and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not here to take your loot.¡± ¡°Then what do you want?¡± She said as she inspected my equipment. ¡°Well,¡± I said as I pointed at her chest, ¡°I was watching you battle Little Fang, not bad by the way, and I couldn¡¯t help but notice you weren¡¯t aware of his skill. It only appears when he¡¯s about to die.¡± ¡°What about it?¡± She snapped and continued to look at me warily. I shrugged and gestured for her to look down. She followed my directions and let out a gasp. I nodded, ¡°Yeah, it has a bleeding effect. You¡¯re going to die of blood loss at this rate.¡± The lacerations on her chest were pouring out blood. It wasn¡¯t gushing out, but it wasn¡¯t a small amount either. I took a step forward, ¡°How about I-¡± ¡°Stay where you are!¡± She shouted. I stopped again. Well, I can understand where she¡¯s coming from. She just killed a boss, the loot is sitting on the ground next to her, and she¡¯s wounded. Then, a stranger appears just when she¡¯s most vulnerable. She tore her sleeve off and ripped it into a long piece of linen. She tried wrapping it around her chest, but it wasn¡¯t long enough and it was an awkward spot to use gauze. I took another step forward, ¡°Let me take a lo-¡± ¡°Damn it! I said don¡¯t move!¡± She said harshly. She ignored her wound and picked up the loot next to her. She stored it in her inventory before standing up. Her body shook and wavered, but she successfully stood up. She turned to face me with her shield in front of her. She slowly backed up, leaving a trail of blood at the same time. I stood motionless and just watched her. Just as she was about to leave the clearing, she stumbled and fell face first onto the ground. Shaking my head at her stubbornness, I walked up to her. This time she didn¡¯t snap at me. Oh, I found the reason why. It¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t snap at me, it¡¯s because she couldn¡¯t snap at me. She fell unconscious from blood loss. I grabbed her shoulder and rolled her onto her back. I opened a pouch on my waist and took out the leaves of a Roye herb. I put it into my mouth and chewed. It wasn¡¯t bad, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend eating it. It tasted bitter. I tried putting it into a stew once, and it wasn¡¯t half bad. Anyway, after grinding it up with my teeth, I spat it into my hand. I rolled up her torn linen shirt and applied the Roye herb to her wounds. I immediately noticed the bleeding stop. Just to make sure, I inspected her wound with my skill.
Multiple lacerations on skin. The wound was bleeding, but has been stopped by a herb. It is slowly healing.
I nodded in satisfaction before taking out gauze from my inventory and wrapping her wound. I noticed her torn shirt and immediately thought of the tailoring skill. Sighing, my hand disappeared into a different dimension and pulled out a thread and needle from my inventory. The inventory was a separate dimension bound to the individual. It could store all sorts of items, and you always knew what was inside of it. If you thought about the inventory, a list of everything would appear in your mind. You just had to reach out your hand and, voila, there it was. It took me less than a minute to stitch her shirt. It didn¡¯t even look like it was torn in the first place. As much as it pained me, I was slightly proud. I really didn¡¯t like the tailoring skill. I picked her up and moved her out of Little Fang¡¯s territory. I didn¡¯t know how long she would be unconscious, but it would be best to move her somewhere a little safer. I found a nice nook between a root and a tree trunk and placed her there. I took a few steps back and sat on the large root. I summoned my soul book and flipped to an empty page. I looked closely at Sophia and began to sketch her. Her eyes were blue and she had blonde hair that reached her chest. She was about 6ft tall, a few inches taller than me. She had some muscle definition, which meant she worked out or trained. That made sense considering her novice sword mastery. I lost track of time as I sketched her. A voice broke my concentration, ¡°Thanks.¡± I unsummoned my soul book and gave her a friendly smile, ¡°No problem. My advice, bring some Roye herbs when you go out adventuring. Bleeding isn¡¯t that common, but it happens once in a while.¡± She used the tree trunk behind her to help her stand up. She glanced at my waist before saying, ¡°Are you an alchemist?¡± ¡°Me?¡± I glanced at my waist full of pouches before continuing, ¡°No, no. Picking a few herbs doesn¡¯t make one an alchemist. In fact, it¡¯s common for a Brave to have some herbs on them.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Her eyes sparkled at the word Brave. She took a step closer, ¡°Are you a Brave perchance?¡± ¡°Hehe,¡± I rubbed my nose and harrumphed, ¡°Starting today I am!¡± ¡°Really? I just started today too!¡± She glanced at her sword and shield on the ground and stored them in her inventory. I raised an eyebrow at her, ¡°You went to fight a boss on your first day?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± She glanced around awkwardly, ¡°I suppose so¡­¡± ¡°Well, with your Novice 8 sword mastery, I don¡¯t blame you for starting with a boss,¡± I said nonchalantly. Her eyes snapped to me and she took up a guarded posture. Oops, I shouldn¡¯t have said that. I forgot that it was taboo to inspect people without their permission. I scratched my check and apologized, ¡°Sorry, I inspected you when you were unconscious. I had to know if the bleeding stopped.¡± Hey, a little lie won¡¯t hurt anyone, right? She thought about it for a moment before looking down at her chest. She noticed the fixed clothes and gauze. Her guard dropped and nodded, ¡°Just don¡¯t do it again.¡± ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t,¡± I said while nodding exaggeratedly. Who am I kidding? I love inspecting people! It¡¯s my favorite hobby. I just need to be a little more quiet about it, that¡¯s all. ¡°My name is Sophia. What¡¯s yours?¡± She asked. ¡°Tristan,¡± I replied with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen someone with golden hair and eyes before,¡± She said while looking at my head. ¡°Hey, blonde hair and blue eyes is rare too,¡± I said in defence. She shrugged, ¡°I guess.¡± At this time, the forest seemed to come to life. A flock of birds approached from every direction. Squirrels, deer, rabbits, foxes, every small critter came from all around. Sophia stumbled backwards in surprise and quickly took out her sword and shield. She looked around warily, ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± I ignored her and opened my arms wide. I smiled widely and shouted, ¡°Hello, everyone!¡± A deer jumped into my embrace. It was so happy to see me that it mistakenly used too much power. I fell backwards while laughing, ¡°Hey, now!¡± I laid on the ground powerlessly as a horde of small critters rubbed their faces against my chest and face. The birds flew in circles around me while chirping happily. Sophia looked at me with bewilderment, ¡°You¡­ what did you do to them?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. Hey, what¡¯s wrong with being friends with the creatures of the forest? I glanced at her and smiled, ¡°Want to pet them?¡± She hesitated, but I saw her glance at a white rabbit out of the corner of her eye. I promptly raised my voice and shouted, ¡°Everyone, that lady over there is my friend!¡± The horde of critters froze and swiveled their heads towards Sophia. She gulped loudly and took a step back, ¡°Now wait a second!¡± I ignored her pleas and pointed at her, ¡°Give her lots of love!¡± The horde of critters rushed up to her. It looked like she was under attack, but I could hear her laughter underneath the critters. A few minutes later, the horde of critters stood in a circle around me. My face was solemn as I said, ¡°Everyone, I¡¯ve known you for awhile now, but it''s time to say goodbyes. I¡¯m leaving Pinewood Forest and heading to the next island!¡± Some critters dropped their heads in sadness, while others whined pitifully. Sophia sat next to me with a white bunny in her lap. She looked up at me in surprise and said, ¡°You¡¯re going through the gateway? But you look so young!¡± ¡°Ahem,¡± I glanced at her strangely, ¡°We¡¯re the same age, you know¡­¡± She rolled her eyes, ¡°That¡¯s my point! You¡¯re too young to go to the next island.¡± Now I was intrigued. What made her think that? I sat down next to her and explained, ¡°Going to the next island isn¡¯t about age, it¡¯s about strength. You already have a novice level skill, so that means you¡¯re above average for those who head to the next island.¡± She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She scrunched up her face and looked at me closely, ¡°Are you speaking the truth?¡± ¡°Of course, this is common knowledge,¡± I responded. Huh, didn¡¯t everybody know about the next island? This was basic level stuff for Braves. Information brokers didn¡¯t even bother to sell this information, they just handed it out for free. I pressed her for an answer, ¡°What makes you think going to the next island is age dependant?¡± She hesitated briefly before answering slowly, ¡°My father said you have to be 25 to go to the next island¡­¡± I looked at her with an understanding look. I understood immediately what was going on here. She saw my face and frowned, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to tell you this, but your father didn¡¯t want you to leave home,¡± I patted her shoulder and nodded knowingly. I continued, ¡°This isn¡¯t that uncommon actually. Fertility Island is the safest island of them all. Most parents don¡¯t want their children to go to a dangerous place.¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± She buried her face into her hands. A moment later, she took the bunny off of her lap and stood up. She said, ¡°Somehow, I can¡¯t be mad at my father. I know he loves me dearly. He just wants to let me live a safe and happy life.¡± I turned back towards the critters and shooed them away, ¡°Go home now, we¡¯ve said our goodbyes.¡± The horde of critters dispersed, along with all of the birds. I spotted the blue robin and smiled as I saw it fly out of sight. I glanced at the sun and knew it was about midday. At this time, Sophia said with some hesitation, ¡°Can¡­ can I come with you?¡± ¡°Where? Through the gateway?¡± I looked her up and down. ¡°Yes!¡± She nodded fiercely. I could see the determination and resolve in her eyes. She was serious about going towards the next island. ¡°Hm,¡± I mused aloud, ¡°We can tag along for a little bit.¡± Having company wouldn¡¯t be so bad, right? I kind of already feel lonely with Xe- Grandpa gone. I faced the exit of the forest and walked, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± She said. What now? Having second thoughts? She turned to face the exit of the forest, ¡°I want to say goodbye to my family first.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Lead the way,¡± I responded. It would be nice to stock up on some supplies at the nearby village. I have some things I need to buy. She looked at the sun before picking a direction. I stood behind her and approved of her posture. She walked with purpose and confidence. Those were good traits for a Brave, perhaps we might make a good team. Though, she does need a bit of tempering. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pinewood Forest was made up of pine trees. The tallest ones stretched 40 ft high and their branches blocked out the majority of the sun. Only a bit of light reached the ground, but it created beautiful sun rays as a result. There were few monsters here, so the wildlife thrived without regard for predators. I always enjoyed the peaceful nature of this place. I spent my whole life here, save for the few times Grandpa and I went out. A feeling of sadness rose up inside me before promptly being squashed by my desire to see the wide open world. It was at this time that we exited the forest. A sea of tan plants greeted me. It always amazed me how much wheat grew on Fertility Island. Fertility Island was for the most part flat. Outside of every village and town in this region, wheat grew for miles on end. It wasn¡¯t planted by farmers, but grew naturally. This was why this land was called Fertility Island. The populace here need not worry for food, because it grew naturally right outside their doors! When a farmer harvested the wheat, it would respawn the next day. Beside me, Sophia stopped and inspected the status board of Pinewood Forest. Whenever you stood at the entrance of a dungeon, a hologram would appear informing you of tasks to do inside the dungeon. If you completed them all, you would gain a reward. The reward was generally stats, but sometimes you would gain magical items. The hologram Sophia was looking at could only be seen by her, so I didn¡¯t know what her progress was. I took another look at mine and nodded in satisfaction.
Pinewood Forest
Explore the entire forest Complete
Gather 10 Ferl herbs Complete
Kill the boss Little Fang Complete
You have completed all of the tasks. You were rewarded with .1 stat(s).
On Fertility Island, there were 25 dungeons. Grandpa taught me that when you completed all of the dungeons on an island, you would be given a reward. A reward on top of the rewards given by the dungeons? Hell yeah! I only had 1 dungeon left, and it was right next to the gateway. Grandpa never told me what the reward was, so I can¡¯t wait to find out. Sophia let out a sigh and shook her head. I think I knew why she was upset. I said, ¡°Missing the 10 ferl herbs?¡± She let out another sigh before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know what they look like. I once thought I found one, but it turned out only to be moss. I gave up after that.¡± I chuckled while taking out a ferl herb from my pouch. A waved it in front of her before walking inside Pinewood forest again. I said, ¡°I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked while raising her eyebrow. I ignored her and knelt down. I dug out a small hole with my hands before inserting the ferl herb inside. I moved the dirt back and filled the hole.
You used your herblore skill to replant a ferl herb.
I stood up and wiped the dirt from my knees. I pointed at the herb while glancing at her, ¡°Hey, strange, a ferl herb appeared right in front of us.¡± She snorted and rolled her eyes, ¡°That can¡¯t possibly work.¡± I crossed my arms and raised my chin. I smiled smugly as I said, ¡°Only if you replant it with the herblore skill.¡± ¡°No way, you have the herblore skill?¡± She said while looking at me in a new light. I nodded repeatedly. You never knew when you would come across a rare herb or plant. If you didn¡¯t have the herblore skill, or if it wasn¡¯t at a high enough skill level, you would only damage or destroy the herb if you tried to harvest it. The herblore skill was a must have for Braves, or so I was told by Grandpa. Sophia grew excited while walking towards the herb. She knelt down and clasped the herb with her hand. With a strong tug, she forcefully uprooted it from the ground. My fale paled as I watched her. I rushed up to her and exclaimed, ¡°No! No, no, no! All wrong! You need to do it gently and gracefully, you brute!¡± ¡°Brute?¡± She blinked. She looked closely at the herb before saying, ¡°Look, see? It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°It might be fine,¡± I rebuked her, ¡°but other herbs are very delicate. You need to gently caress them like you would a woman.¡± ¡°L-l-like a woman?¡± She stammered with a high pitched voice. ¡°Uh, yeah, that¡¯s what my grandpa said,¡± I explained while recalling his words, ¡°he said that a herb is like a delicate woman. She must be coaxed and held firmly so that she won¡¯t run away. You must be gentle so that she doesn¡¯t break.¡± Sophia threw the herb against the ground as she spat, ¡°Your grandpa is a pervert!¡± I widened my eyes and dropped to the ground. I held the herb gently in my hands and caressed it. I whispered, ¡°There, there. It¡¯s all right now, she won¡¯t hurt you.¡± Sophia looked at me with eyes of disgust, ¡°Stay away from me when you harvest herbs in the future.¡± I stored the woma- herb in my pouch and glanced at her, ¡°So you don¡¯t want to collect Pinewood Forest¡¯s reward?¡± ¡°Th-¡± She froze and looked at me. She struggled internally for a moment before saying quietly, ¡°I do.¡± I cupped my ear and said, ¡°What was that? I couldn¡¯t quite catch that.¡± ¡°I do,¡± She said a little louder. ¡°Huh? What¡¯d you say?¡± I said while leaning towards her. ¡°PLANT THE DAMN HERBS!¡± She roared towards the sky. A few minutes later, I hummed happily while Sophia harvested the freshly planted herbs. After harvesting them, she stood up and handed them over to me. She glanced towards the side while saying, ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± I said while putting them back in their pouch. She faced the hologram and said with glee, ¡°Yay. I got .1 stat points.¡± ¡°Congratulations. Where are you going to place it?¡± I inquired. ¡°Hm,¡± She mused and fell into thought. A second later, she shook her head and turned to face me, ¡°I¡¯ll save it until I get a whole point. It doesn¡¯t do much at the moment, anyway.¡± ¡°Suit yourself,¡± I shrugged. She began to walk along the dirt road that cut through the sea of wheat. She said, ¡°Let¡¯s head towards my village now. Father should be wondering where I am.¡± Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On either side of us was a sea of wheat. As the wind passed through the field, it created a relaxing sound. It¡¯s similar to the rustling of leaves, but a bit harsher on the ears. They were only as tall as my waist, so I could see over them. As we walked, I spotted a herd of cattle. They must be living in paradise. Food is all around them for miles on end. I would get sick if I ate wheat for my entire life, though. I need meat in my life, and plenty of it. Not long after I spotted the herd of cattle, I saw a band of grazing horses. I looked in the direction we were walking and saw no village, so it must still be quite the distance. I grew impatient at the thought. I asked Sophia just to check, ¡°How far away is your home from here?¡± ¡°Uhm,¡± Sophia rubbed her forehead as she mused aloud, ¡°about two hours longer?¡± Oh, no. Two hours just to get to her village? That isn¡¯t going to work. I called out to her, ¡°Stop for a moment, I¡¯m going to get us a ride.¡± ¡°A ride?¡± She glanced around but didn¡¯t notice anything. I ran towards the direction of the horses and called out to them, ¡°Hey, mind if you take us towards my friend¡¯s village not far from here?¡± I sensed her shake her head behind me before saying, ¡°Those are feral horses, they haven¡¯t been tamed. There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll li-¡± Her words became stuck in her throat as she saw the horses nod and walk over to me. One of them bent their knees so it was easier for me to sit on top of it. I climbed on and patted its neck, ¡°Thanks for the lift.¡± The horse neighed and stood up before walking over to the road. I saw Sophia standing still with her mouth hanging wide open. I called out to her, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Hop on already.¡± She looked over at me and frowned, ¡°How did you do that? Even before, the critters of the forest were very friendly with you. Strange.¡± A horse left the band and walked up to her. It licked her face before bending down. She got on the horse and we began to ride towards her village. This time, we were traveling much, much faster. A moment later, her face lit up as she clapped her hands, ¡°Aha! It must be an ability of your soul manifestation. I¡¯m right, aren¡¯t I?¡± I shook my head and summoned my soul book, ¡°Nope. My soul manifested itself as a journal.¡± ¡°Ah? A journal?¡± She widened her eyes in surprise. She took a close look at me before saying, ¡°Don¡¯t Braves usually have weapons as their soul manifestation?¡± ¡°Not me,¡± I said with a smile. I recalled her battle with Little Fang and asked, ¡°I showed you my soul manifestation, now show me yours.¡± ¡°Hm, alright.¡± With a flash of light, a shield appeared in her hand. It was grey and looked just like a normal iron shield. Ahh, so it was the shield. I took a close look at it before asking, ¡°How many tiers have you unlocked?¡± At this, she became weary. I chuckled, ¡°Hey, we¡¯re going to be traveling together, aren¡¯t we? It¡¯s better if we know how our soul manifestation works so that we work better as a team.¡± ¡°I suppose¡­¡± She said hesitantly. I noticed she still didn¡¯t completely agree, so I told her all of the tiers I unlocked so far to gain her trust.
Soul Manifestation Journal
Tier 1 Your soul journal has infinite pages.
Tier 2 Your soul journal can connect to your thoughts. It will be able to write down things automatically.

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¡°Huh,¡± She said with an interested look, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a strange soul manifestation before.¡± I promptly unsummoned my soul journal and snorted, ¡°It isn¡¯t strange!¡± She ignored me and continued, ¡°How many pages have you written so far?¡± I connected my mind with my soul journal and said, ¡°2,450 pages.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She said while giving a disbelieving look. ¡°Agh, enough about my soul manifestation. Tell me yours now.¡± I said with impatience. This time her wariness was non-existent. She promptly told me her unlocked tiers.
Soul Manifestation Shield
Tier 1 Automatically gain Beginner 1 Shield Mastery.
Tier 2 You can unsummon your shield no matter how far away it is from you.

¡°Oohhh,¡± I exclaimed. It made sense why her shield mastery was lower than her sword mastery. Everyone unlocked their soul manifestation at the age of 16, so she hasn¡¯t been training with it for long. Her tier 2 was useful in the event something disarmed her. She could just unsummon it and summon it back. ¡°Hehe,¡± She chuckled with happiness at my reaction. Fifteen minutes later, I spotted a village in the distance. We would reach it in a few minutes. As we got closer, I noticed an elderly man in the field of wheat. He held a scythe in his hands and swung it at the wheat. The wheat was easily chopped down. Strangely, the wheat that made contact with his scythe dispersed into light. I knew what I had to do. I thought, ¡°Inspect!¡±
You have cast the spell, ''Inspect''.

Name: Hudson Title: Mortal Enemy of Wheat
Age: 73 Race: Human
Health: 30/30 Health Regeneration: .15/m
Stamina: 30/34 Stamina Regeneration: .17/m
Strength: 12 Vitality: 15
Agility: 10 Endurance: 17
Intelligence: 9
Skills
Scythe Mastery Novice - 3
Sword Mastery Trainee - 8
Soul Manifestation ??
Let me see, let me see. Ugh, I still can¡¯t see anybody''s soul manifestation. How much higher of a skill level does my inspect have to be? Mortal Enemy of Wheat? Haha, what a strange title. Sophia glanced at me and noticed my expression. She snorted, ¡°You didn¡¯t just inspect Old Hudson, did you?¡± Sweat began to pour down my forehead. I glanced at the sky and whistled. ¡°Hmph, you really need to get in control of yourself,¡± She rebuked. Old Hudson nodded at us as we passed. Sophia waved and said, ¡°Good day to you, Hudson!¡± A minute later, I couldn¡¯t hold back my curiosity any longer. I asked Sophia, ¡°Why did the wheat disappear after he cut it with his scythe?¡± She looked at me and noticed my innocent look. She sighed before saying, ¡°Well, everybody in the village already knows. I suppose it won¡¯t hurt to tell you.¡±

Soul Manifestation Scythe
Tier 1 Automatically gain Beginner 1 Scythe Mastery.
Tier 2 Gain Stamina when cutting wheat.
Tier 3 Wheat cut by your Soul Scythe will be automatically put in your inventory.

¡°Waaah,¡± My eyes sparkled as I listened. No wonder he had the title, ¡®Mortal Enemy of Wheat¡¯, he truly was their greatest foe. His Tier 3 ability sure was useful. He didn¡¯t have to bend over and pick it up himself. Sophia told me more about Hudson, ¡°For generations, Hudson¡¯s family has been cutting wheat. He single handedly provides enough wheat for the entire village.¡± ¡°Amazing!¡± I exclaimed. What a useful soul manifestation! At this time, we reached the village. There were no wooden walls surrounding the village, only a few dirt paths leading in from different directions. There were no guards stationed outside, because there was no need to. Monsters never attacked villages or towns on Fertility Island. We climbed off the horses and waved goodbye, ¡°Thanks for the ride!¡± They neighed before turning around to return to their band. Just as we turned to face the village, a shout rang from inside, ¡°SOPHIAAAAAAAA!¡± Beside me, Sophia gulped loudly, ¡°Uh, oh. That¡¯s my father.¡± A second later, a husky looking middle aged man appeared in front of us. He had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Sophia. He had a frown on his face. He didn¡¯t look happy. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Her father strode up to us with a fuming look. Sophia forced a smile, ¡°Hello, Papa. What have you been up to today?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Her father snorted, ¡°What about you? I woke up to find my iron sword gone and my little girl nowhere to be found! Your mother and I have been worried sick.¡± ¡°Sorry, Papa,¡± Sophia said while taking out her iron sword. She handed it over to her father and said, ¡°I¡¯m back now, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Just as her father was about to store the iron sword in his inventory, his eyes glanced over the blade. He froze and brought the blade close to his eyes to take a better look. He lowered it and pointed at a red spot on the blade, ¡°Sophia, what is this red mark here?¡± ¡°Uhh,¡± She swallowed loudly and followed his finger. After figuring out what he saw, she said hesitantly, ¡°It¡¯s just some dried blood, Papa.¡± ¡°D-d-d-dried blood!?¡± Her father stuttered while taking a few steps back. He looked behind us and saw the horses galloping in the distance. He looked at the sword, then the horses, and then the direction we came from. He seemed to be struck by lightning as he came to a realization. He shouted, ¡°You went to Pinewood Forest, didn¡¯t you?!¡± Sophia winced at her father¡¯s realization. She nodded hesitantly, ¡°I just explored it, that¡¯s all.¡± Her father scoffed and pointed at the dried blood, ¡°Then what¡¯s this blood doing here?¡± Just as Sophia was about to explain, her father suddenly froze. He rushed up to Sophia and inspected her clothes. He grabbed her arm and looked for anything unusual. While doing this, he said with worry, ¡°Oh, my little girl. You got wounded, didn¡¯t you? My poor little girl. While all alone in the forest, some monster must have attacked you.¡± My mouth gaped open at her father¡¯s 180 degree turn in personality. At first I thought he was going to reprimand her, but it looked like the situation was unfolding differently than I expected? He put his arm around her shoulder and gently pushed in the direction of the village. He rubbed her arm while saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my little girl, Mother will patch you up and cook your favorite. The world is a dangerous place, but it¡¯s safe at home.¡± I followed behind them as we walked through the small village. I ignored her father¡¯s rambling and took this chance to inspect the village. The houses were made out of planks of wood. They seemed to be in good condition. We approached what looked to be the center of the village. There was a stone statue of a female warrior in the center of the village square. She held a giant kite shield in her hand. I couldn¡¯t make out the details of her face because the quality of the statue wasn¡¯t the best. Behind the statue was a windmill. That must be where they store the grain. A shout broke my concentration. ¡°Enough!¡± Sophia shouted while pushing away her father. Her father paused for a moment before saying, ¡°My little girl, the monster that attacked you must have scared you silly. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re safe here. Papa will protect you.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Sophia jumped backwards to avoid her father¡¯s embrace. She landed next to the statue and looked up at it. Her eyes became unfocused, but only for a moment. She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. The same resolve I saw when she was fighting Little Fang appeared in her eyes. She said calmly, ¡°Papa, the blood on the iron sword wasn¡¯t from me, but from Little Fang!¡± ¡°L-l-little Fang?!¡± Her father gripped his chest in horror. His face paled as he said, ¡°Oh, my little girl, Little Fang attacked you? It¡¯s a miracle you survived.¡± ¡°No,¡± Sophia shook her head and held out her hand. With a flash of light, a stack of meat and a bloodied black leather pelt appeared in her hand. She smirked as she said, ¡°I killed Little Fang!¡± Her father¡¯s eyes locked onto the items in her hand. His eyes became cloudy as he said, ¡°Sophia¡­? What is the meaning of this¡­? Don¡¯t you know how dangerous it is in the outside world¡­? Little Fang¡­ that¡¯s a boss monster! It would be suicide if you fought him, suicide!¡± ¡°Papa!¡± Sophia shook her head and said quietly, ¡°This isn¡¯t fair.¡± ¡°Fair?¡± Her father repeated, unable to understand what she meant. Sophia looked up at the statue of the female warrior as she explained, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember reading to me the stories of the six heroes? Whenever I went to bed, you always tucked me in and told me one of their stories.¡± Her father nodded. A smile appeared on his face as he remembered them. Sophia continued, ¡°You told me about the battle between the six heroes and the dragon knights. The story about the fairy race¡¯s plight, and how the six heroes rescued them from being wiped out. You told me so many stories about the outside world. But now when I¡¯m all grown up, you forbid me from going out there to experience what the six heroes experienced! That isn¡¯t fair, papa! I want to walk in their footsteps, I want to help people in need just like the guardian, Elnora!¡± Sophia looked away from the statue and stared at her dad with resolve. She held up the items dropped from Little Fang and said calmly, ¡°To prove myself to you, I went to Pinewood Forest. Yes, it was dangerous, but I did it! I killed Little Fang all by myself!¡± Her father was silent as he listened to her speech. When she was finished, his eyes became cloudy. He struggled to say, ¡°I¡­¡± Unable to say anything, he turned and walked away. As he disappeared around the corner, Sophia collapsed to the ground. I walked up to her and said, ¡°Good job!¡± Sophia looked up at me with tears in her eyes, ¡°He loves me. He just doesn¡¯t want to see me get hurt, that¡¯s all.¡± Footsteps could be heard behind me. I turned around and found a beautiful middle aged woman. She had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Sophia. She must be her mother. Her mother walked up to Sophia and clasped her shoulder, ¡°I heard everything, honey.¡± ¡°Mama,¡± Sophia stood up and embraced her mother. She buried her face into her mother¡¯s shoulder and cried. Her mother caressed her back and whispered, ¡°There, there. Your father is all right, he just needs some time to himself. We¡¯ve been dreading this day for years now, he just didn¡¯t want it to happen.¡± After a few moments, I coughed awkwardly, ¡°Uh, Sophia, I¡¯ll just explore the village and leave you two alone¡­¡± Sophia shook with a start and took a step back from her mother. She wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head, ¡°No, don¡¯t go. I¡¯m fine now.¡± She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to her mother. She said with a smile, ¡°Mama, this is Tristan. He helped me out in Pinewood Forest. He¡¯s a Brave and we¡¯re going to travel to the next island together!¡± ¡°Oh, wow, a Brave? Hello Tristan, I¡¯m Sophia¡¯s mother. Call me Josie,¡± Her mother grabbed my hand and gave a firm shake. When her mother introduced herself, I noticed Sophia giving me a strange look while shaking her head. I figured she didn¡¯t want me to tell her I saved her from bleeding out. Her mother looked at the stack of meat on the ground and picked it up. She stored it in her inventory as she said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I cook this meat for dinner?¡± My mouth gaped open and a little saliva fell out as I said, ¡°Ooo, sounds good!¡± I love meat! I¡¯ll eat it anytime, anyday! Her mother laughed at my reaction before saying, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll show you around the village.¡±

Book 2 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

We dismounted a few minutes away from the gateway. We were going to sneak past the gatekeeper this time, so we had to approach quietly from a distance. Sophia inspected the gateway, ¡°Look, it¡¯s different than the one on Fertility Island.¡± I took a second look at the gateway and found multiple differences. The gateway was the color of gold instead of gray this time. Carved on the gateway were small round objects. They reminded me of¡­ coins! The coins looked like they were falling from the top to the bottom, and a large pile could be seen at the base of each pillar. They weren¡¯t real, it was just that whoever carved this gateway was masterfully skilled. It actually looked like coins instead of rock. The portal itself was light gold instead of blue as well. We didn¡¯t approach the gateway head on. I kept my eyes out for the gatekeeper, the golem created by Lucas. When I found it, I paused. It was leaning against a pillar of the gateway. The eerie thing was that it was staring aimlessly at the sky. Sophia shivered next to me. She muttered, ¡°Does it do that all day? Creepy.¡± I never believed for a moment that this golem was an earthen construct made from magic. It defied the knowledge my grandfather passed down to me. Still, a question for another time. For now, we had to sneak past it. The stealth skill only lasted 10 seconds, so our stamina would be completely consumed by the time we actually reached the portal. The worst part was that we had to move slowly in fear of making too much noise. That only delayed us further.
Stealth has gained a level.
Everything went according to plan. By the time our stamina was nearly depleted we were right next to the portal. The golem suddenly shook. It swiveled its head towards us and squinted. I deactivated my stealth with a smile, ¡°See ya!¡± With that, I jumped inside the portal. I felt constricted, like I was in a water bubble. Everything was a blur. After a few moments, everything fell into place. Cool wind brushed against me, and the cawing of birds could be heard, in addition to the sound of waves brushing against the shore. With a flash of light, Sophia appeared next to me. We looked around, wondering where we were. Small clouds dotted the clear blue sky. At my feet was sand. To our left, water. Lots of water. Sophia exclaimed, ¡°Wow, what a large lake! I can¡¯t see the other side!¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a lake,¡± I shook my head. I inhaled through my nose and smelled salt. Lots of salt. I walked up to the water and cupped my hands. I picked up liquid and poured it in my mouth before promptly spitting it out, ¡°Yuck.¡± ¡°If this isn¡¯t a lake, what is it?¡± My eyes lit up as I scanned the endless water, ¡°It¡¯s a sea!¡± ¡°The sea?!¡± Sophia copied me by drinking some of the salt water. Her face scrunched up in disgust at the taste. She stood up with bright eyes, ¡°I¡¯ve read about the sea before! I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d encounter it so soon. Awesome!¡± I turned my back to the sea and looked inland. Tall thin trees littered the beach. The branches and leaves were only at the top. The trunk was coarse and rough, much more so than any other tree. At the top of each tree were small round objects. I inspected the tree.
Palm Tree
A tree that grows in a tropical climate.
Value: 1
¡°Inspect says those trees are called palm trees,¡± I said to Sophia while pointing at them. One thing was different about this notification. Value: 1. What did that mean? My eyes glowed. Something to discover! I walked up to a palm tree and looked up at the small round objects. Were those fruit? Inspect would tell me.
CoconutThe narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Fruit from a palm tree.
Value: 5
I was right! I activated the spider card and climbed up the tree. My hands and feet gained the property to stick to any surface. It offered a lot of utility, that¡¯s why I kept it. I reached the top and grabbed a coconut. I willed the coconut to enter my inventory.
Items with value cannot enter your inventory.
What? That was new. We have to carry any item with value? Ugh, I was so used to just putting things into my inventory. I guess this was a rule of Treasure Island. I used my feet to stand at an angle. Using my two free hands, I tried to bite into the coconut. Ouch. Not eating the fruit this way. I called out to Sophia, ¡°Catch!¡± I tossed the coconut to Sophia before grabbing another one. After a few seconds, we cleared out the entire palm tree. I jumped off the tree and landed on the ground. Sophia held a coconut in her hand with confusion, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Fruit! Though I wouldn¡¯t believe it if Inspect didn¡¯t tell me,¡± I said while looking at the hard round fruit. ¡°Maybe the food is inside?¡± Sophia mused aloud. She handed me a coconut before summoning her sword. I held the coconut in front of me. With a clean cut, the coconut was split in half. Liquid dripped down so I quickly held the coconut at a different angle. I handed one over to her before taking a sip of the liquid. Wow, that¡¯s different. Sophia spat the coconut liquid out in disgust, ¡°Yuck!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± I said in amusement. ¡°You do?! That was so disgusting!¡± Sophia said while handing over hers. I quickly downed the coconut liquid. I tried eating the white part, but it was disgusting. I guess it was just the liquid that could be eaten. I inspected the now eaten coconut.
Eaten Coconut
Empty fruit from a palm tree.
Value: 0
Its value dropped to 0. This number meant something, but I didn¡¯t know what. I tried storing it in my inventory, but it still didn¡¯t work. I informed Sophia of everything I learned. Right when I finished, I sensed something fly towards me. I jumped forward and dodged the attack. When I landed, I spun around. What was thrown at me was a coconut. ¡°He he he he!¡± A high pitched laughter came from above. I looked up and found a monkey hanging from a palm tree. It stuck out its tongue while pointing at me. I exclaimed, ¡°Are you serious?!¡± I picked up the coconut it threw at me. I activated Mana Enhancement before throwing it back with all my strength. The monkey easily dodged the coconut by jumping to another palm tree. It laughed again, ¡°He he he he!¡± ¡°Why you!¡± I ran up to the base of the palm tree it was standing on. My spider card lasted for 5 minutes, so it was still active. I quickly climbed up the tree with my spear in my hand. The monkey¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of its head when it saw me climb up like a spider. It recovered a second later and jumped off the palm tree. Too late! I followed after it and thrust out with my spear. With a yelp, it fell and rolled along the ground. After a few quick stabs, it died. It dispersed into motes of light. Huh, I guess the rules changed back again. When you killed a monster on Fertility Island, the corpse dispersed into light. But when we arrived on Collection Island, it was different. The corpse stayed and you had to skin it yourself. Treasure Island went back to Fertility Island¡¯s rules. Which meant¡­ there was loot! My eyes glowed as I looked down at my feet. Aha! There was 11 copper, some meat, and a scroll. I picked up the copper coins and willed to put them into my inventory.
Items with value cannot enter your inventory.
¡°What!¡± I exclaimed aloud. I didn¡¯t expect this. Coins had value? Don¡¯t tell me I have to carry all my coins by hand now? I quickly inspected all of the dropped items.
11 Copper Coins
Currency of the Fabled Islands.
Value: 11
Monkey Meat
Meat from a monkey.
Value: 5
Poor Treasure Map
Leads to treasure?
Value: 0
I glanced over the notifications. That was nice to know. 1 copper coin had a value of 1. At least I had some reference as to what value meant. My eyes froze on a word. Treasure. The word repeated in my head. Treasure¡­? Treasure. Treasure! I picked up the scroll and held it to the heavens, ¡°A treasure map!!¡± Sophia ran up to me, ¡°What is that?¡± The scroll was bound together by a string. I untied the string and unfurled the scroll. The scroll was debilitated and worn out, but I could still make out what was drawn on it. On the scroll was lots of blue, with the color tan in the middle. On the tan parts were lots of green dots. Sophia pointed at a spot on the map, ¡°Isn¡¯t that water?¡± My eyes lit up as I understood, ¡°So blue is water, tan is land, and green is plants?¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s that?¡± Sophia pointed to a spot on the land. I followed her finger and found a giant red X. I recalled a story about the tales of a pirate. A red X only meant one thing to them. I shouted in excitement, ¡°That¡¯s where the treasure is!¡± ¡°This Island and the one on the map are both surrounded by water. Could it be the one we¡¯re on?¡± Sophia mused aloud. ¡°Uhh¡­ how can we tell?¡± Sophia thought for a moment before nodding, ¡°Look, there is a small tan mark on the left side of the map. That means if we travel to the west side of this island, we¡¯ll find a really tiny island. If we find that, that means the island on the map and the one we are standing on are one and the same.¡± I looked at Sophia with a solemn face, ¡°Sophia¡­¡± She looked over at me with a nod, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What would I do without you!?¡± I gave her a bear hug before looking at the sun. My grandpa said the sun rose in the east and set in the west. It was the same for every island, so it could be trusted no matter where you were. Still, I didn¡¯t know where the sun rose and set yet, so I couldn¡¯t determine the direction. In that case, let¡¯s run around the entire island! I was so excited to find treasure that I started to sing, ¡°We¡¯re on an adventure, searching for treasure! Give me some loot!¡± Book 2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I didn¡¯t make it very far before running out of stamina. I fell face first into the sand, gasping for breath. I forgot that my stamina was so low from using stealth repeatedly. I heard the galloping of a horse behind me. I rolled onto my back and looked up at Sophia. She looked down at me, ¡°Did you forget about your horse?¡± ¡°Ah hem,¡± I let out an embarrassed cough. Now that I thought about it, it would be silly to waste my stamina running around the island. Why not just use a horse? I summoned my horse and mounted it. ¡® We traveled along the beach as we slowly made our way around the island. It wasn¡¯t too large, perhaps the size of Tore. I scanned the sea, trying to find a small island off the shore. Ten minutes after I mounted my horse, I found it. I pulled out the treasure map and tried to figure out where we were. ¡°How close are we?¡± Sophia asked at my side. ¡°Hmm,¡± I looked up and pointed ahead of us, ¡°should be within a minute or two.¡± A minute later, I found something weird. It was the X mark, except that it was painted onto the sand! How strange. I dismounted and walked over to the mark. Sophia asked, ¡°Did you find it?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see this giant red X mark on the sand?¡± I looked over at her with surprise. ¡°What X mark?¡± I guess I¡¯m the only one that can see it. But why? Ah, perhaps it was because I was holding the treasure map? I tossed it over to her, and sure enough the red X mark disappeared. As soon as Sophia touched the map, she looked down at her feet, ¡°Oh, there it is!¡± I summoned a shovel from my inventory. It was one of the things I kept with me at all times. I began to dig as I sung, ¡°We¡¯re on an adventure, digging for treasure!¡± I didn¡¯t have an extra shovel for Sophia, so she stood at the side and watched. Of what little stamina I recovered, it was quickly consumed. When I made a decent sized hole in the ground, I handed the shovel to Sophia. The X mark was large, at least twenty feet in each direction. We continued to switch every ten minutes. The hole grew larger and larger. We even gained a new skill after 30 minutes.
Digging - Trainee 1 Digging consumes 10% less stamina.
Right after I received that message, my shovel hit something hard. Something that wasn¡¯t sand. My eyes lit up as I exclaimed, ¡°Found it!¡± Sophia quickly ran over and watched as I dug out a small chest. When it was completely unearthed, I unsummoned the shovel and knelt down. The chest was about two feet wide and made out of wood. The wood was cracked and old. I cast inspect.
Poor Treasure Chest
Contains Treasure.
Value: 0
¡°Heh, heh, heh. Our first treasure chest!¡± I chuckled strangely as I hugged the chest. ¡°Gross. Just open it already,¡± Sophia said with some disgust. I placed the chest on the ground. My hand shook excitedly as I opened the latch holding the chest shut. As I cracked open the chest, a bright light came from inside. OHHH! It must be good! The light disappeared a second later, revealing the treasure that was hidden inside. I picked up the item and held it in front of me. The chest disappeared into motes light. I activated inspect. My smile froze as I read the notification.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Crude Rusty Iron Boot
So old and debilitated that it can''t be equipped.
Value: 15
¡°Eh¡­ that¡¯s our loot?¡± Sophia said with a frown. I threw the boot on the ground as I roared to the sky, ¡°How dare you call this treasure, System! How dare you toy with my feelings like this! How dare you! I thought I was going to get a Mythic level item, but you gave me a Crude boot instead! It can¡¯t even be equipped!¡± I collapsed to the ground and covered my face, afraid of letting the System see my tears. I can¡¯t let it know. Sophia ignored me as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s its value?¡± ¡°15¡­¡± I said hoarsely. ¡°Hm. And we can¡¯t store it in our inventory, so we have to carry it around, huh?¡± Sophia said with a frown. ¡°You want to keep it?¡± I looked at her in bewilderment. How could she want such a¡­ such a shameful item! Sophia climbed out of the hole with the boot, ¡°It would be a waste. Plus, we don¡¯t know what this value thing really means yet. It could be good.¡± I stood up and climbed out of the hole. Maybe she was right. This was the highest value item we¡¯ve seen this far, so it could be worth a lot. My despair quickly evaporated, replaced by hope. I summoned my soul book and took a look at the map of the island. My soul book automatically mapped out where I¡¯ve traveled. Sophia looked at the map as well. I unsummoned my soul book as I said, ¡°Let¡¯s go get another treasure map!¡± ¡°Hang on. We should finish exploring the island first. We don¡¯t know if there are any other inhabitants here,¡± Sophia suggested. ¡°Oh, right.¡± We didn¡¯t know if we were alone on this island. What if there were humans or monsters inland? With a goal in mind, we rode our horses around the outskirts of the island. I wanted to map out the beech first. When we were around 50% done, we spotted a village in the distance. Well, it couldn¡¯t even be called a village. At most, it was a few huts with a small pier. Finding civilization, we rode up to the small village with excitement. As we got closer, I noticed a figure walk out of the hut. Eh? That wasn¡¯t a human, was it? ¡°Let¡¯s dismount here, I don¡¯t want to alarm them,¡± Sophia said. We slowed to a stop before climbing off our horses. We walked up to the small village. The figure noticed us. A smile broke across their face as they turned towards us. I guess they were friendly? As we walked towards each other, I took a close look at the creature. It was almost as tall as me. The most distinguishing thing between it and us was that it had a large shell on its back. No, wait. It wasn¡¯t that the shell was on its back, but that it was IN the shell itself. Was this¡­? I cast inspect.
Name: Wartle Title: None
Age: 90 Race: Tortillian
Health: 90/90 Health Regeneration: .45/m
Stamina: 60/70 Stamina Regeneration: .35/m
Strength: 27 Vitality: 45
Agility: 13 Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 12
It looked like the rules of inspect changed again. Hey, wait a second, this was a demi-beast! They were known as the tortillian race, half human and half turtle. From what Grandpa said, they were friendly and good natured. There was never an instance of them attacking humans first. I briefly explained to Sophia what it was. The tortillian called Wartle ran up to us with a beaming smile. He clapped his hands and jumped up and down, ¡°Hey, hey! Are you two humans? It''s been awhile since I saw one. Are you here to play with me?¡± Uhh. It did say his age was 90, right? Why was he behaving like a child? Sophia giggled at the rambunctious tortillian, ¡°What do you want to play?¡± ¡°Oh, oh! We can do so many things,¡± Wartle¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°We can do a swimming race, a fishing race, a breathing race¡­¡± The tortillian prattled on, listing all types of races. Sophia couldn¡¯t help but laugh, ¡°You sure love races, huh?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, yes, yes! Races are so much fun!¡± Wartle said excitedly. I couldn¡¯t help but feel friendly towards this tortillian. He was just so pure and innocent. I nodded, ¡°Okay, we can do a swimming race, but first, I have a question for you.¡± Wartle ran up to me and grabbed my hand before jumping up and down in excitement, ¡°Yay, Wartle found another friend to play with! I will try and answer anything you want, but Wartle isn¡¯t that smart!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Sophia said before showing him the boot, ¡°Do you know what value is? This boot says it has a value of 15, but we don¡¯t know what that means.¡± ¡°Ohh!¡± Wartle¡¯s eyes light up as he beamed, ¡°Wartle know this! You want to sell this item, right? You need to go see Old Hardshell. He is the leader of my village, and the only trader I know of!¡± I learned a few things from this. One, items with value could be sold. And two, you could sell them to traders. Sophia and I looked at each other before nodding, ¡°Can you take us to him?¡± ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t forget you said you¡¯d play with me!¡± Wartle led us into the village. He looked around before finding a tortillian sitting on the pier. Wartle ran up the the tortillian and said excitedly, ¡°Old Hardshell, look, two humans have arrived. They want to trade with you, but more importantly, they said they¡¯d play with me!¡± ¡°Oh, hoh, hoh,¡± Old Hardshell chuckled hoarsely before turning around and taking a look at us, ¡°Is that so? How nice of them.¡± This tortillian was old. Much older than Wartle. His back was hunched, and his shell was cracked in some places. His skin was wrinkly. I cast inspect.
Name: Hardshell Title: Trader
Age: 439 Race: Tortillian
Health: 110/110 Health Regeneration: .55/m
Stamina: 86/88 Stamina Regeneration: .44/m
Strength: 45 Vitality: 55
Agility: 19 Endurance: 44
Intelligence: 22
The first thing that popped out was his age. 439 years old?! That¡¯s incredible! No wonder Wartle acted like a kid, I bet he actually was one. Book 1 audiobook on sale now Hello, everyone. I''ve been busy working on other projects, namely Zombie Slayer (which is now finished) and Towers of Heaven (which I''m currently writing). Check them out if you haven''t already! https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07JL6J2MK - Zombie Slayer https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21709/towers-of-heaven - Towers of HeavenThis story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Anyway, the audiobook for The Fabled Islands is finally out! It has been narrated by Steve Campbell, one of the nicest people I''ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fabled-Islands-Audiobook/B07MM2X4WP?qid=1547168828&sr=sr_1_3&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_3&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=D1BEGXKCYAKDA2Y20VA7& I plan on writing more of The Fabled Islands later this year.