Elsewhere

Now that he had a moment, he took in both of their appearances. They both had deep olive skin and dark hair. Hers was darker, raven-colored, while his was somewhere early in the stages of salting over. The pair were both on the shorter side, standing about a meter and a half tall. While he was slim, with the wiry look of a trim outdoorsman, she was much, much more curvy. Duke forced himself to not stare. It wasn’t easy.

“Nice to meet you both.” Duke smiled as he kicked the broken sword hilt away. “You can call me Duke.”

Grat tilted his head. “You are a Duke? From what kingdom? Oh, should I be bowing or kneeling or something. Court etiquette was never really taught in my family.”

Duke held up a hand. “No, I’m not a Duke. My name is Duke.” Oh shit, this is going to be a major problem for me, isn’t it?

Grat nodded slowly with that nod-and-smile look you gave crazy people to humor them. Duke picked up on it immediately and groaned inwardly. Fucking callsign still causing me trouble. “Well, it is nice to meet you, Duke.”

Duke noted that it was strange that Elaine hadn’t spoken. He hoped she was alright after all her injuries. “Are you OK, Elaine? You seemed to have gotten chewed on by those wolves pretty badly.”

Grat interrupted. “She can’t understand you. You are speaking a language I have never heard before. The only reason I can understand you is due to a spell.” He proceeded to whisper to Elaine for a bit, explaining who Duke was, apparently.

Elaine turned to her husband, “Please tell the Duke that I am grateful for his assistance.”

“He’s not a Duke.” Grat explained.

“But you said he was the Duke?” Elaine asked, confusion crossing her brow.

“It is just his name.” Grat responded.

“Why would someone name their child Duke? Are you sure he’s not a Duke?”

“I do not know why, but that is what he calls himself.”

“That is most odd. Are you sure he is not touched?”

“No, I am not sure, but he did come to your aid, so he is at least good-natured.”

“He is dressed in rags. Is he the Duke of Rags?”

Duke decided it was his turn to interrupt. “You know, I am right here. You don’t need to talk about me as if I can’t hear you.”

Grat’s head whipped around back to Duke. “Can you not speak our language? How is it that you understand but can not speak?”

Duke sighed. “It’s an odd ability. I can understand just about anyone, but I can’t speak other languages that I don’t know.”

“That is odd.” Grat responded. “Is it some form of curse? Are you cursed?”

“What did he say? Who cursed the Duke? Are we in danger?” Elaine inquired, becoming alarmed as well as more confused.

Grat held his arms up in exasperation. “Everyone hold up for a moment. Duke, may I cast a spell on you? It’s called Tongues and will give you the ability to speak our language for a short while. Maybe an hour or two.”

Duke considered it for a moment but acquiesced. “Yes, cast the spell.”

Grat walked up to Duke, extending his arm upward. As he approached the height disparity became very evident. Duke stood nearly two meters tall while Grat might have made it a meter and a half. Grat’s eyes grew wider at the sight.

“You are a bit taller than I expected.” Grat offered with a friendly smile.

“I get that a lot.” Duke responded.

“Would you mind bending down a little, I need to touch your forehead for the spell to work.”

Duke leaned down, allowing Grat to touch his forehead. A feeling of warmth flowed into Duke’s head, feeling not unlike a warm blow-dryer being held just far enough away to keep from burning. It was ultimately a strange, but not unpleasant sensation.

***YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SPELL EFFECT

You have been successfully targeted by the spell “Tongues.” You can now speak and understand most languages for the next two hours. ***

Duke shrugged and asked, “So, did it work?”

Elaine smiled and responded with a curtsey, “It most certainly did. Thank you for your assistance with the wolves, my Duke.”

Duke could feel the color rising to his cheeks as frustration set in further. “My name is Duke. I am not a Duke. I’m not a member of the nobility. Not now, not ever. I’m just a guy who has had a bit of a rough day. Oh, and you are welcome for the help with the wolves. Why were they attacking you anyway?”

Grat interrupted gruffly, “These woods are not what they used to be. Something evil walks among the trees. Something they do not understand and cannot describe. We have come a considerable distance, sent by the Council to investigate. What do you know about this evil? What have you seen?”

Duke hesitated to speak about the circumstances of his arrival or what followed him through the portal. Something about the evil being his fault didn’t ring true to him, but it could be something that Elgin had done. Either way, he was not going to reveal it to someone he just met. He didn’t need that kind of trouble just yet.

“I’ve seen some goblins camping not too far away. They seemed rather unpleasant, but I doubt that they were the great and ominous evil you are looking for.”

Elaine nodded. “No, goblins are nasty little buggers but they certainly are not any great threat to the land. Unless, of course, there’s hundreds of thousands of them. That would be a great evil bringing them together.”

Duke chuckled, “No, I only saw a few.”

“Are they still there? Where are they?” Elaine asked, her voice elevated with tension.

Duke smiled. “No, they are not there anymore. We had a disagreement. See, they wanted me dead and I disagreed with their point of view.”

Grat joined in. “And since you are standing here, I can guess how that argument ended.”

Elaine kicked the remains of Duke’s broken blade. “The crap blade is another good indication.”

Duke watched the broken blade tumble into the brush, “Yeah, you could call that a poor donation to my survival cause. They really didn’t seem keen on donating to my cause. Really unpleasant of them.”

Grat got them back on track, “So the goblins and the-” He pointed around them. “wolves are all you have run into in this forest?”

“Yep, nothing much else to see. Or, more to the point, that I saw.” Duke’s mind was racing, trying to put together his story before he had to lay it out to these people. Then his brain crashed to a halt with another system message.

***The Spell “Tongues” has successfully been absorbed. You may now use it as an Ability at will for a small cost. ***

Well, that was interesting. I wonder if I can do that with other buffs. His thoughts were interrupted again.

Grat asked, “So, where are you headed? You’re pretty deep into this forest and don’t exactly seem equipped for it.”

Duke shrugged, “I am a wanderer and the forest seemed pretty peaceful to me. That is, until today. The goblins and aggressive wolves were a bit unexpected. As for preparations…I can take care of myself.”

Elaine smiled, her eyes turning softer. “Well, you certainly helped me take care of the wolves, Duke. Would you care to join us in seeking out the evil lurking somewhere in this forest?”

***You have been offered a quest!

Quest Name: Seek and Destroy

Quest Description: An unknown evil has taken root in the forest. Seek it out its source and cleanse it before it can spread.

Quest Rewards: Experience, Increased reputation with the Druidic Council.

***

Duke weighed his options. Having someone who knew their way around would probably be helpful since he knew almost nothing about this world. On the other hand, he wasn’t ready to reveal too much about himself, especially if the tentacle thing turned out to be the great evil in the forest. He couldn’t imagine that going well for him. Ultimately, he placed his secrecy above potential safety in numbers.

“That is a fine offer, but I prefer to be on my own for now. I have so much wanderlust that it is hard to stay in a group with anyone right now. I hope you understand.”

A knowing glance passed between Grat and Elaine. Grat handed Duke a small twig tightly wrapped with a blue string. “Yes, I think we do. If you see something that fits the ‘great evil’ that we’re investigating, burn this and we will get the location. I wouldn’t suggest trying to confront it though. Even we are under orders to summon aid before any confrontation.”

Duke examined the twig. “Thanks. I’ll keep my eyes open. If I see something, I’m your twig-burning guy.”

They shook hands and separated. Glad to see that shaking hands is a thing in this world. Duke watched the pair walk off into the forest and immediately blend into the background. One moment he saw them passing by trees and the next, all he saw was trees. Mental note: My stealth is garbage compared to that. Get better.

Duke shrugged and set out in the opposite direction from where the pair had left. He had no destination in mind but felt the need to continue to push himself to improve. Had he been the one surrounded by the wolves, he would have had to flee. That was not acceptable to him. He immediately started to practice TELEPORTATION, seeing how quickly he could TELEPORT from one spot to the next without taking time to reset the picture in his mind.

He found that if he had a good look at the area beforehand that he could TELEPORT throughout the area as fast as he could think of moving. It was hard to keep his orientation but as he practiced, he found it a bit easier. Only a bit though. More practice, it seemed, was in order.

Duke did just that. As he wandered through the forest, he kept TELEPORTING, making sure to vary his locations whenever possible from tree branches to boulders to roots. He tried everything he could do to put himself on poor footing so that he could get used to recovering his balance quickly. And, hey, he only fell out of a tree five times. His regeneration fixed him up every time.

Hours later, Duke found himself tired and hungry. In all of his time in the forest, he had found little game to speak of and that troubled him.

“OK, time to find something to eat. I’ve trained for this. On Earth. Where I knew what kind of trees, insects, and animals roamed around. Right. Shit. At least I know wolves and bears are a thing. Maybe rabbits and deer are too. Nothing to do but to go look. And stop talking to myself. This is getting creepy.”

Duke set about to hunt or scavenge himself a meal of some kind. That was when he noticed that the forest was not only empty, but silent. Instantly, his wariness increased as the hairs raised on the back of his neck. Prey hiding and silent could only mean a predator was active in the area. He TELEPORTED midway up a tree to get a better look.

His instincts had been right as minutes later a pair of wolves stalked through the path he had been following. They were scenting the air and the ground, clearly following his path. Likely from the same pack that attacked Elaine. Time to be patient – I’m ten meters up and there’s no way they could jump this high.

More wolves gathered in the area. Duke counted five before the biggest wolf he had ever seen joined them. It had to stand as tall as Grat had at the shoulder. He stilled his breath – he did not want to tangle with this pack, especially with what he had to assume was the alpha there as well. The wolves milled about in the area for about ten minutes before leaving the way they came.

Duke decided two things. One, that dinner could wait and two, that he needed to hide his scent trail some. He began TELEPORTING from tree to tree, not touching the ground in between as the light of day finally faded away. It was good to continue his TELEPORTATION practice and get out of the area, but his fatigue was really catching up to him. He really needed to get some sleep but sleeping on the ground was definitely out of the question. He continued to TELEPORT, trying to find a suitable spot.

Eventually, he found a larger-than-normal tree with a massive limb forking out that would make for a solid place to rest. He settled in, tying himself in place with the extra paracord he kept around his waist. Thank you Sgt. Johnson for making me get into that habit! Sleep claimed Duke quickly.

He awoke to another round of system messages:

***CONGRATULATIONS!

You survived another conflict and have taken time to rest and consolidate your gains, you have had the following changes to absorb:

You are a not a friend to the wolves.

For defeating 6 wolves between level 1 and 3, you receive 337 experience points. Even though your ally killed a number of them, you still get a full share of the experience because…well, because you are broken. Just take the gift for what it is and don’t complain, alright?

Your Abilities have seen excellent use.

You have again made extensive use of your TELEPORTATION Ability and have gained 4 levels, bringing you up to Novice 9. Well done! Find new and interesting ways to use your ability and you will be further rewarded.

You continue to get hurt – even self-inflicted! This continues to push your REGENERATION Ability forward. You have gained two levels, bringing you up to Initiate 16. No Pain, no gain!

You have utilized a number of Skills since your last rest and have made some gains.

You snuck up on some wolves fighting which is not a great feat but then you evaded a pack of wolves tracking you by scent – that’s something special. +5 Levels in your Stealth Skill. You have now progressed to the next rank in Stealth which is now at Initiate level 3. Congratulations!

You really are garbage with Blades. Maybe you should stop trying to use them in a fight until you know which end to hit your opponent with. You can't even hit something attached to your leg. But you did manage to actually kill something with one swing so, yeah you. You have fumbled around with Blades enough to have increased this Skill to Untrained Level 5.

Pounding a wolf to death with the pommel of your broken sword - you might just live through a typical bar fight. You continue to show some aptitude with the Brawling Skill. Your skill has increased to Novice Level 5.

You failed to hunt for something to eat. Your Overland Travel Skill has not progressed, but your hunger certainly has. If you don’t find something to eat today, you are not going to like the consequences. Something to drink might be a good idea too. Dying of thirst or hunger would just be a pathetic way to go. Do better.

***

Duke was happy to see that nothing had bothered him as he slept. The snark of the system messages really said something about the “Powers” that placed him in this world. He wasn’t quite sure what it said, but it definitely said something. As he worked to untie himself, he reviewed the changes in his abilities and planned out what he would do this day.

OK, I used TELEPORT a bunch and it went up by four levels. I think that’s good. It’s still Novice and since Stealth went from Novice to Initiate, that must be the next rank. I was in the upper twenties for Stealth in Novice level so maybe level 30 is the threshold for Initiate rank. I have to keep pushing. I wonder if there is any way to use TELEPORTATION offensively? Maybe I can TELEPORT someone 10 meters into the air and let them drop – that would hurt. Better start small. Squirrel hunting it is unless I can find a rabbit – those are far better to eat.

Not trusting to ground travel just yet with the wolf pack still out there, he went back to his tree-TELEPORT routine. For two hours he travelled in this fashion before he spotted another game trail to follow. This one quickly led him to a large clearing with a pond. His parched throat screamed at him to drink immediately but his training held him fast. Water was necessary for life and bodies of water were prime spots for predators to hunt.

It did not take long for nature to play out as he anticipated. As he watched, a small, furry creature the size of a small dog came to the pond to drink. Its fur was a mottled brown and seemed to have some sort of extended snout. From that snout, a long tongue snaked out and dipped into the water to drink. After each drink, it paused and looked around, wary of predators.

Three sips in, a feline creature slowly slinked out of the forest, keeping its belly low to the ground. Duke could not hear any sound of the cat’s passage and watched as it quickly and carefully approached its prey. The next time the creature paused to take a drink the cat struck.

The creature had lifted its head and looked to the right and the left. When it turned its head to the left, the cat leaped, leading with its front claws in a vicious slash at the creature’s left eye. The claws dug in, destroying the orb as the full weight of the cat landed on the thing’s neck. The squeal of alarm was loud and Duke could feel the naked terror resound in his bones.

The creature struggled desperately to get away, but escape was not in the cards for it this day. The cat had latched firmly onto its throat and proceeded to choke it out quickly. It was all over in under a minute from when the cat had approached the clearing to the time it was dragging its prey away.

Duke decided that it was time to claim a meal for himself. He focused all of his attention on the dead creature and pushed his TELEPORTATION Ability to its limits. He could feel a strange straining sensation. It was both physical and mental. In an instant the strain ceased, and the carcass appeared in Duke’s hands.

The cat reacted instantly, confused as to where its meal had gone and then yowling in fright once it realized that its meal was gone, just gone. It tore out of the clearing and back into the forest at a full run, not looking back once.

A half dozen TELEPORTs later, he was away from the clearing and had gutted and hung the corpse to bleed out. Still realizing that he was extremely thirsty, he TELEPORTED back to the pond and drank his fill while keeping an eye out for any other predators showing up. Once his mana had refilled, he TELEPORTED back to the place he had hung up his meal to drain. Thankfully, nothing had shown up to take his prize while it finished draining. He quickly packed it up and was on his way, running and TELEPORTING his path away from the clearing. Along the way, he kept watch for an area he could set up camp and cook his meal.

Nearly an hour later, he found the spot. There was a large boulder with a thick pine-like tree nestled up against it. There was just enough room under the shelter of the branches to set up a small camp. Not having much more than the rags he was wearing, it didn’t take him long to set up. Dry firewood was abundant in the area and he kept a ferro rod in the handle of his knife – fire came quickly. With a good fire, cooking the meat of the creature was fairly easy.

What the hell is this thing called anyway? Shouldn’t I have some sort of “identify” skill or something. I know how these things work. I’ve read enough books and played enough games. I feel cheated. Well, guess I’ll just have to call it a snoutbeast for now.

Duke was surprised how good the snoutbeast tasted – even less gamey than rabbit. He was most pleased as he banked the coals of the fire to get some sleep.