Hollow Henry

From the perspective of the training room, Henry seemed to disappear in a turbulent flurry of twisting and distorting into one single point in space. Hamish and Andy both mulled around in awkward silence for about 5 minutes before he came back. His return was as spectacular as his exit, and it caused Andy to jump away from the spot he was returning to.

“Maiden's tits, man!” Andy shouted. “I don't know what that was, but I really thought you were gone for good there.”

“Where did you go?” Hamish asked curiously, not giving Henry a chance to start talking. “You even went off the player boards. We thought you might be properly dead.”

“I went to my Temple Realm, like my skill said,” Henry declared proudly. He paused, and looked curiously at the big man.

“Did you say player boards?”

“It's so easy to forget you just got here,” the big man said. “Some of the players from the first few generations got together and built the Player-Net. It keeps track of all of us to some degree. Got all the scoreboards and insider info and the like.”

“It's basically social media,” Andy scoffed. “Don't get me wrong, I like a cheeky post about my breakfast as much as the next guy. But I don't know if I would have missed it enough to go and make it all over again here.”

Henry searched his HUD, but found nothing. Something like that could be useful too. He might be able to get a clearer idea of what kind of world he'd landed in. Before he had a chance to ask about it, Hamish predicted his questions.

“Don't bother trying to find it in your HUD,” he chuckled. “You'll have to get that from the goblin shop. Canny get through that door until you're level 5 though I'm afraid.”

“A question for later then,” Henry sighed, clearly disappointed.

“So how was it?” Andy cut in again, wasting no time in getting back to the topic at hand. “I've heard about Temple Realms. Did you have a giant tower of gold filled with beautiful women?” He asked with giddy excitement.

“Was there a glorious battlefield filled with warriors fighting in an endless bout to sing glory to your name?” Hamish asked, taking a step towards him.

Henry wasn't sure what kind of Temple Realms they'd heard about, but he wasn’t sure they were getting their information from the right place. He just looked at both of them and shrugged.

“Nope,” he said simply. “I've got some rocks though.”

He told them what he'd seen, making sure to show off the wiggling little glob of mercury he still held in his hand. After their initial disappointment in the lack of embellishments his soul had to offer, they started to consider the same implications that Henry had.

“Fuck me in the bathroom and call me Hilda. You have no idea what you're sitting on there mate,” Andy exclaimed in a less than polite tone. “You broke through the damn ceiling before you even knew it was there.”

“What do you mean by that?” Henry asked, not sure whether or not to match the man's excitement.

“He's talking about your essence,” Hamish offered. “After tier 2 it gets a lot harder to get essence. At tier 1 you can accumulate it over time from the world around you. You also still get essence from tier 1 things. It makes it easy to go out and murder a bunch of bunnies to get your levels, but that won't work anymore if you want to get to level 15. You need to be tier 2 if you wanna go past 14. It's something about how your body can't be too strong for your soul or something. I don't know much more than that myself if I'm honest.”

“It sounds like you know a fair bit,” Henry pointed out. “That still doesn't explain why it looks like Andy here wants to put me in a box and keep me,” he said, taking a small step away from the excited blonde.

“Don't flatter yourself,” Andy laughed. “I don't want you for your body, only for what you can do with it,” he said with a wink.

“What we're saying mate, is that if you can just feed shite straight to your essence, you can probably keep getting tier 1 essence after level 15. You just have to take it home to your little foggy rock and eat it, or whatever you did.”

Henry smiled. That all sounded very good indeed. He might have gotten his wish for an advantage after all. It would all require some testing, but the outlooks were good so far. It still bothered him a little that he had no combat abilities. If this was going to be his life now, it would have been handy to start with a way to defend himself. He hadn't really been out into the world yet though, so he considered it wouldn't hurt to get an idea of what he was up against before he complained too much.

“I don't suppose you get more essence for eating up better stuff,” Andy pondered out loud. He pulled a pouch from his belt, and fished a few precious stones from it. They weren't cut into beautiful pieces of jewellery yet, but they still caught the light of the room in a dazzling rainbow display. 2 of the 7 stones even glowed with a soft white light at the centre.

“They’re not much, but they might get you a few more points than a shirt,” he said, offering the stones to Henry.

Henry looked at the hand of riches with hesitation, not sure what to make of such a generous offer. He didn't know the value of the stones in this world, or what the other players intentions really were. What's more is that he'd never wanted to lean on anyone else in the first place.

In the life that he'd obliviously left behind, he was entirely self made. His family wasn't exactly impoverished, but they had their struggles. Henry had put himself through higher schooling and started his business all on his own. His parents didn't even help him out, he helped them out instead.

“I don't know,” he said, putting his hands into his pockets. “That looks like a lot, I wouldn't feel right taking it from you.”

Andy looked a little surprised. He glanced at Hamish and shrugged.

“I'm not going to charge you for them, if that's what you're thinking,” he said, looking curiously at Henry.

“I appreciate that,” Henry said with a soft chuckle, attempting to make the whole thing less serious. “But If this is going to be my life now, I'd like to know I can stand on my own two feet.” He admitted.

Andy smiled, and slipped the stones back into their pouch.

“I can respect that,” he said honestly.

“I wouldn't mind knowing where you got those though,” Henry laughed. “I have a feeling something like that could be useful.”

Hamish's lips twisted into an excited and sadistic smile.

“Goblin raids,” he practically moaned.

“There's Goblin raids?” Henry asked, catching some of the big man's excitement once again.

“What's a Goblin raid?”

“Only the best damn way you'll ever take out your frustration,” the big man said, starting to bounce on his feet a little. “Oh how I love a wee little Goblin raid. The grubby little shites are everything I've ever hated, and I canny get enough of crushing their little bones.” He sighed with pleasure at the thought of it.

Henry looked at the big warrior with horror.

“That's really dark, man,” he said with more than a hint of judgement. “What did they ever do to you?”

“Don't even get me started,” Hamish laughed. “You'll understand when you meet one. If you're looking for some stuff to eat with your essence though…” he let the statement trail off so Henry could draw his own conclusion.

Henry squinted at him suspiciously.

“What kind of stuff?” He asked, his curiosity increasing.

Hamish smirked at him.

“Lots of stones like that to start. Plenty more too thanks to their wee sticky fingers. We might even be able to get you a decent enough weapon if we're lucky.”

“You'd come with me?” Henry questioned.

“I think we're a little invested now,” Andy added. “I want to see what happens when you eat something valuable.”

Henry rolled his eyes.

“You do know I'm not going to actually eat it right?”

“How would you know?” Hamish snorted. “You only just got here. Could be that you're just eating it and you don't realise.”

“Because I absorbed it into my essence. I told you that,” Henry defended.

“Every time I have a taco, I absorb that into my essence too,” the big man declared. “Same difference as far as I'm concerned.”

They argued the semantics of the power none of them understood in the slightest for some time. The only thing that managed to bring the circular debate to an end however, was when Henry agreed to join them on a Goblin raid.

He was feeling somewhat aimless since finding out about his new life. The apathy he felt towards his situation kept him from wanting much of anything. The game was supposed to be a sandbox, so there wasn't even a quest for him to readily jump into. He figured in the end that he might as well tag along with the Scotsmen, since he really had nothing else to do. Andy insisted he stop by to meet the innkeeper before they left so he could claim a few of his player entitlements along with a medallion of his own. He didn't mind the idea, considering he also had an achievement reward to claim.

The innkeeper was an older woman. She looked a lot like one of his grandmother's friends, which made him have to look twice. Despite her apparent age, she seemed to move with a fluid grace behind the bar, mixing and serving as more patrons were starting to pour in. The thing that surprised him the most though, was the feeling of utter terror he felt when she looked their way. He couldn't understand why, but every atom in his body was screaming for him to run as far from that woman as he could. The air felt thicker than it had any right to be, and he felt as if he was smaller than he'd ever been. Before Henry had a chance to run, Hamish put his big hand on his back.

“It's pretty intense, isn't it?” The big man asked with a calm voice.

“My first time seeing one, I ran all the way to the next town. You don't need to worry though, she's just a Praetorian, they all make everyone feel that way.”

“What the hell,” Henry said, shaking his head. “That seems a little rude.”

“Rude!” Hamish barked with a sharp laugh. “I don't think anyone in her position cares much if they're rude or not. Besides, they can't help it. That's just how it feels when you're looking at a God.”

“I beg your pardon…” Henry said, deflating while he looked up at the big man.

“Well, not really a God I suppose,” Hamish admitted sheepishly. “Close enough though. She could probably destroy a planet with a thought, and there's not a thing any of us could hope to do about it.”

Henry gulped.

“And you want me to meet her?”

“I'm afraid you have to,” Andy chuckled. “It's not so bad, off you go.”

He finished his sentence with a shove at Henry's back.

Henry shuffled forward a few feet against his will. Andy had barely touched him, yet he'd managed to push him around so easily. It was clear to Henry while standing in that room, that he undoubtedly had a lot of catching up to do. He nervously approached the bar, trying his hardest to think of how to speak to the planet destroying bartender. Before he had a chance to think of anything, he felt his shaking hands meet the wood of the bar, and the Praetorian was staring him in the face.

“What can I get for you, sweetheart?” She asked in a sweet southern cadence.

“I… um,” Henry stuttered.

“Come now sugar, I got some other boys to see today,” she said with a wink.

She took a small step back to look him over properly, something seeming to catch her interest.

“You’re an outworlder, ain't you darlin’?” She asked.

“A what?” He asked back nervously.

“I mean you ain't from around here, you've come from real far out of town,” she declared confidently. “I don't suppose you're one of those players? Y'all are popping up all over the place today.”

“Um… yes,” he responded, summoning his most sophisticated vocabulary.

She rolled her eyes.

“I'm not going to eat you, if that's what you're worried about.”

“A little,” he admitted, immediately regretting his stupid mouth.

She laughed, and pulled a shot glass out from below the bar.

“At least you're an honest one,” she said, pouring him a shot of something amber. She pushed the glass to him and gestured for him to drink.

Not being one to ignore the instructions of a potential deity, he quickly downed the drink. Rather than a burn, he felt a pleasant warmth in his throat, and could taste the sweet sugar of honey and caramel on his tongue. Just as fast as he felt the drink slide into his chest, he felt his fear of the woman fade to something more akin to a keen caution.

“Does that feel better?” She asked, taking the glass away.

“It does actually,” he replied, this time feeling a lot more casual.

“What was that stuff?”

“It was booze, honey,” she snickered. “You'd be amazed at how much it's good for.”

She pulled out a needle from her apron, along with a small crystal and a few metal discs. The crystal looked like smokey quartz, and the metals looked like bronze, silver and gold respectively.

“I hope you're not afraid of needles,” she said, holding the needle up.

“What are you planning on doing with that?” He scoffed, taking a step back.

“Calm down, fussy pants,” she demanded. “I only need a drop of your blood. It's for your medallion, it'll bind it to you. Also pick a metal, I don't have all day.”

He nervously stepped back up to the bar.

Without seeing her move at all, he felt the prick of a needle on his chest. He looked down and noticed two things. The first was that he'd forgotten that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The second was the small droplet of blood right next to his nipple. He looked back up at her to see that she was already smearing his blood on the crystal. Figuring he was in deep enough, he reached forward and grabbed the silver disc.

“So what is the point in this medallion?” He asked, handing her the disc.

She looked at him with a hint of disappointment and shook her head.

“It's a big world out there, and it's not very kind to sweet young souls. The Tavern is here to make sure you can always find somewhere to rest your head, and so those that know you can know what happened when you take your final wander into that long dark night.”

While she talked, she placed the bloody crystal and the silver disc into a small box and sealed the lid with a glowing finger.

“Your medallion will keep track of you, and how far you've come, and we will be here the whole time to help you get where you're going. It's also your honour, and if you swear on your honour it's a promise the Tavern will enforce.”

The box glowed a deep blue and shook. He got the impression that it was hot, but the bar beneath it didn't scorch. When it was done, she casually crushed the wood to free the medallion inside. It looked much the same as those of the Scotsmen. It was a hexagonal piece of silver with a finely cut green crystal glowing in the centre. When she handed it to him, he could see intricate runes carved into every surface of the metal.

“You'll learn in time, Hun. But you ought to remember to keep the medallions honour if you want to survive in this world.”

He gulped, and tried to take it all in.

“I'll do my best, I guess,” he said with a nonchalant shrug he was doing his best to fake.

“That's the spirit,” she laughed.

Once again, she reached beneath the bar. This time, she put a large empty backpack, and a small shipping crate on the counter. The crate was roughly a foot across, and he could see the HUD's floating text above it. It read ‘achievement’, so he was pretty confident it was his reward.

“That's what I got for you, darlin’,” she said with a sweet smile. “I'll be seeing you around I'm sure.”

With that, she turned on her heel and floated off to help the next patron.

Henry felt a slap on his shoulder after a moment to himself of stunned silence. It was Andy wearing the dumb smile Henry was growing to know him for.

“It's quite the experience, isn't it?” He asked. “Looks like you got an achievement for something.”

“I think I nearly shit my pants,” Henry chuckled nervously. “She was so nice, but so scary.”

“Wait until you meet a Praetorian in a capital city,” Hamish laughed. “Praetorian is just the last rank on the Medallion Path. Some of them keep growing after that still, and you can feel them from outside the Tavern.”

That was information Henry thought he might do his best to remember. He looked over his medallion, and his HUD offered him some information.

Tane Henry:

Paltun Ralnik: Rekiruunta

Ruunni:

Fiirell Stallterra

Lonkir

Lonkir

Lonkir

The only word he recognised was his name, and trying to figure out the other nonsense words was giving him a headache.

He put it to the back of his mind for the time being. If he came across the strange language again he might bring it up, but it didn't seem important otherwise. What was important however, was the loot on the bar in front of him.

His favourite part of any game was the loot. There's something endlessly exciting about cracking open a container filled with mystery prizes. Most fantasy games he played had some kind of starter gear, so the backpack made sense to him. He could already see a water-skin and a small shovel tied to the sides of the thing. Whoever or Whatever was responsible for him being there seemed to be determined to be consistent with the RPG theme. What had him most curious was the achievement reward. He wasn't sure what kind of prize you could earn by failing faster than anyone else.

He pulled the box closer to himself, and Andy offered him the butt of a dagger.

“Well go on then,” he said, gesturing with the blade for Henry to open the box.

Henry didn't need much convincing on his side, and he quickly took to the seam of the lid with his most aggressive prying techniques. It broke free easily, snapping into two pieces thanks to his encouragement. Inside was a neatly folded set of leather and chain armour.

He picked up the top piece, which folded out to the shape of a simple long sleeved shirt. When he ran his fingers along the chain mail it felt like silk, and it seemed to flex and deform more than any metal had the right to. Lining the inside was a soft cotton, feeling more comfortable to his touch than he'd expected. The leather was hard, but malleable. It was stained a dark mustard yellow and it covered where the most vulnerable parts of his body would hide beneath. There were also shoulder and forearm guards etched with runes similar to those on his medallion. The strange letters traced swirling and circular lines. Unlike his medallion however, he could tell where these much more simple runes started as well as where they ended. There was a clear system to the way the symbols fed into each other, he was curious about what the purpose of them were. The other differences to the runes, was the crimson red ink that filled the etching. He could feel something coming from it when he ran his fingers over the symbols. It was like a static tingle in his fingertips. The crystal at the centre of his medallion felt much the same when he touched it, so he assumed the armour held some kind of power as well.

The leggings were much the same, looking like a pair of armoured pants more than anything. The last thing in the box was a simple pair of black leather boots. They looked a lot like modern combat boots, aside from the carefully carved runes decorating their top and sides.

Hamish whistled in appreciation.

“Not bad at all,” he said, running his fingers along the chain. “What kind of achievement gets you something like this?”

“You have the honour of standing with a record holder,” Henry said proudly. “In 12 generations of players, I have had the privilege of dying the fastest.”

That prompted a laugh from both of them.

“I knew you got to The Empty quickly, but I didn't realise you were a professional,” Andy joked. “Put it on then, and let's go see how stabbable you are.”

“Goblin raid!” Hamish cheered, raising a drink that he'd pulled from somewhere.

Henry laughed, and followed their advice. He slipped into the armour on the spot, since it wasn't too awkward. The armour fit him better than anything he had ever worn. The cotton kissed his bare skin with the warmth of a freshly cleaned sheet, and the pants slipped seamlessly over his trousers to give him an equally comfortable fit.

He had to discard his current shoes, since wearing two pairs at once felt to him like it might be a chore. The new boots hugged his feet and cushioned against his own weight.

When he went to store his now old boots in his new backpack, he was elated once again by the discovery of another toy. The bag didn't contain anything too exciting. There was a roll of bandage, a small bundle of dried sticks, a thin blanket and a crude cooking pot stuffed with a mug and some rough looking cutlery.

What excited him about the bag though, was the fact that all of its contents sat flat at the bottom of a space that was easily 3 times the size of the backpack itself. It was bigger on the inside. This was the most exciting demonstration of magic he'd seen yet. His mind immediately fixated on the possibility of carrying even more loot. He was going to cram so much stuff into that space that he might need another backpack.

As his new friends dragged him out of the Tavern, he idly wondered if he could put a backpack inside another backpack, and if so, how far could you go?