For all the differences in the buildings, it was easy to spot the inn that the kid had mentioned; when he had said there was a sign, he had been underselling it. It was huge, extending all the way to the top, which had to be three floors up. It was made of wood, painted black and yellow, and had not one but three lanterns illuminating it, as if anyone could miss it walking down the street. As he got closer, Jay could make out the design; it was a tree, its roots coming together to form a trunk which branched up into leaves. In the center of the tree, a woman’s face stared out, her lips turned into a smile.
The building itself was made of brick, brown and grey, but the door was wooden, brass handles shiny in the light. Jay took a moment to prepare himself and opened the door.
The smell hit him first, spicy and floral, like cinnamon and jasmine and cardamom. He sniffed approvingly, stomach growling of its own accord. The front door let out into a common room filled with low tables and padded chairs, a fireplace at the far end that was burning down to cinders. Glass lamps sat in the center of each table, their combined light more than enough to see by. The decorations were patterned and colorful; tapestries covered the walls, only broken up by small shelves that held assorted knickknacks. There was a staircase to his left farther down the wall, and a bar to his right, behind which stood a tall woman wearing a yellow sari and brass leaves in her hair. She raised an eyebrow as Jay came closer, and he waved hello at her to show that he meant no harm. “Uh, hello. My name is Jacob, I’m an Outsider. I was hoping to see if there was any room for me to stay the night.”
The woman’s other eyebrow joined her raised one. She looked him up and down once before nodding and gesturing to one of the bar stools in front of her. “Yes, I think that might be arranged. My name is Diyan; this is my inn. You just arrived here, yes? Most Outsiders would be sleeping at the castle otherwise.” Her eyes narrowed. “How did you know to come here? Did someone tell you about this place?”
Jay shook his head, hoping that his face didn’t give anything away. “No, I actually, uh, landed in an alley not far from here. I stepped out onto the street and saw your sign; I thought this might be a good place to start looking for… help.”
She nodded, never averting her stare, and he matched her gaze innocently. After a few seconds, she smiled, transforming her face from suspicious to kind and motherly. “You have good intuition, then. This is one of the best inns in the city, though we are one of the few that has never hosted an Outsider. My husband will be very pleased that you are here. He is asleep now, but I am sure he will not mind if I wake him. Are you hungry, Jacob? I have bread that is fresh from the oven if you are.”
Jay tried his best not to sag with relief at her change in attitude. His stomach growled, again, but the thought of eating so soon after everything that had happened was too much, and he shook his head. “I would rather not eat anything right now, but thank you for offering. And please, don’t wake your husband up on my account; I’m not important enough to get out of bed for.”
Diyan looked like she was going to disagree, but footsteps from behind them cut her off. A familiar voice said, excitedly, “See, Hava, see? I told you that Maa was talking to someone! Look at his clothes, he has to be an Outsider!”
Jay turned to see the boy that he had met in the alley tugging on the hand of a girl who looked like she had just rolled out of bed. She made a noise somewhere between acknowledgement and disinterest and turned to go back upstairs. The boy, oblivious, tried to pull her forward, his eyes shining with excitement. Diyan sighed from behind the bar. “Dele, you cannot be up this late, and waking your sister up is rude. Let her go back to sleep.”
Dele made a noise of protest, but at a level stare from his mother, he let go of the girl, who trudged back up the stairs like she was sleepwalking. Jay stifled a laugh at the look on the boy’s face, which was somewhere between disappointed and annoyed, but Diyan’s eyes had narrowed again, as though she was doing math in her head. “We were only talking for a minute, and yet you got your sister from her room and you are fully dressed. I do not think that we woke you, Dele. Hm?”
The boy’s expression shifted to something like panic, and he stumbled over a few words before skittering up the stairs much faster than his sister had. When Jay turned to Diyan again, she was pinching the bridge of her nose, sighing. “Ahh, that boy. He is always doing something. I will give him something to do tomorrow, since he has so much energy!” She seemed to remember that she had a guest, and her smile appeared once again. “I am sorry for my son. He means well, he is just young. Now, follow me, and I will show you to your room. You can meet my husband in the morning over breakfast.”
As she moved from behind the bar, she paused, as if remembering something. “Before I do… you have the mark of the Outsider, yes? I would feel much better to see it for myself.” Her voice was light, but her eyes brokered no argument, and Jay panicked for a minute before he remembered what the Accruer had told him right before he left: you will receive a mark on the inside of your left arm that will serve as your identification. Holding his breath, he took off his jacket, rolling the sleeve of his shirt up to expose his left arm. It was pale, freckled, a little sweaty (he would have to see about getting some light clothes like Diyan and Dele); exactly as he remembered it, except for the tattoo.
It wasn’t an actual tattoo; Jay had some of those on his upper arms, and even the best ones weren’t as clean and precise as this, but he didn’t know what else to call it. It was the same symbol that had been on the paper he had chosen in the man’s office, sitting on his skin like it had been there all his life. A green shield crossed by a silver wand and sword, the silver tones gleaming like real metal in the light. He stared at it, transfixed, and when he finally broke away to look at Diyan she was staring at it too, a mix of wonder and curiosity in her eyes.
After a few seconds, Jay cleared his throat, and the woman started as though surprised. “Ah, I apologize. I have never seen one in person. It is much more beautiful than the plays make it out to be. Please come with me.” She hurried towards the stairs, and Jay followed, not bothering to roll his sleeve down. He flexed his arm, watching the muscles move beneath the skin, fascinated and scared at the same time. I didn’t even feel it appear on me. What else did the Accruer say before I left? “You’ll have access to…” something about a System. He mentioned video games. Is it like an interface? Do I have to go somewhere to activate it?
At the thought, words appeared in his vision, so suddenly that he couldn’t help but make a noise and step backwards in alarm. Diyan turned, surprised, and said something, but Jacob was transfixed by the information that had sprung from nothing, neatly typed in all caps.
WELCOME TO ACCRUING SYSTEM VERS. 2.0.4, JACOB HOLTZ! ACTIVATION COMPLETE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN THE TUTORIAL? (YES/NO)
He blinked rapidly, swiping his hand through the air in fascination, but it was like the words were printed on the inside of his eyes; he couldn’t see his hand underneath them, and no amount of shaking his head dislodged them from his view. Shit, it really is like a video game. I don’t want to start anything right now, I want to wait until I get into the room—
The words disappeared, and a glowing square icon settled into the corner of his vision, blinking intermittently. It was kind of annoying, but better than giant words blocking out his view. He squeezed his eyes shut experimentally, but the square was still there. That’s going to be hard to get used to. He opened his eyes to Diyan staring at him with concern, her hand half extended towards him. He smiled, waving a hand like it was nothing. “Ah, sorry about that. I got scared by some writing, that’s all.”
Diyan’s eyes widened a little bit, and she spoke with a hesitant awe that Jay didn’t like one bit. “So it’s true, that Outsiders can read things that no one else can see. I thought that was made up.”
He laughed awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders. “Uh, I guess so. Sorry to rush you, but apparently I have some stuff to do once I get settled.” He pointed at his head and immediately regretted saying it when Diyan murmured an apology and continued walking along the hall, looking back every few seconds as if to make sure he was still there. Damn, I sounded like an asshole just then. I’ll have to make it up to her somehow.
His room was on the second floor, at the far end of the hall. It was small, no bigger than eight feet by eight feet, but it was the cozy kind of small (not that Jay cared; Diyan could have put him in a closet and he would have been happy. After all, he wasn’t paying). Thick rugs overlapped on the floor, patterned in diamonds and squares and circles in every kind of color. A desk took up the far corner of the room, a sturdy wooden thing with drawers and a firm, padded chair. On top of the desk sat a lamp, which Diyan hastened to light, the wick bursting to life with a touch and murmured word. The bed was a single, pushed into the corner on the same wall as the door. It was covered in blankets and pillows that looked delightfully soft. But the part that drew Jay’s attention immediately was the window; it was half the width of the wall, and from this high up he could see over the building directly across from the inn to the city beyond.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
It was huge, with mismatched buildings and open spaces interspersed as far as Jay could see (which, admittedly, was not super far, but still). In the distance, spires peeked from above the buildings, and at Jay’s wide-eyed stare, Diyan said (with no small amount of pride), “Those spires belong to the castle of Marcella the Outsider, Queen of the Summer Court. We have been very fortunate to afford a place so close; the gods have given us what we have worked for, and now they have blessed us with you. I will leave you now, Jacob, but if you need anything at all, I will be downstairs.” She retreated, shutting the door softly behind her.
Jay stared out of the window for a few minutes more, soaking in the view, before he drew the curtains and sat on the bed. His mind was racing from what Diyan had just told him. The queen is an Outsider, like me? That makes things easier, I think. Jesus, the Accruer wasn’t kidding when he said there was opportunity here. But I’m guessing that to get as far as she has, I have to start with this tutorial. He sighed and focused on the blinking square in his vision. The prompt appeared again, exactly the same as last time.
WELCOME TO ACCRUING SYSTEM VERS. 2.0.4, JACOB HOLTZ! ACTIVATION COMPLETE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN THE TUTORIAL? (YES/NO)
This time, he thought yes, and the words disappeared, replaced with a textbox. There was a list inside, with little circles next to each item; a to do list if Jay had ever seen one. The blinking square in the corner of his vision had been replaced by a horizontal line of icons that were all flashing. The first one was a book and quill, the second was a sack with a string, the third was a medal hanging on a ribbon, and the fourth was a star. After a moment to orient himself, Jay decided to lay down on the bed while he did all this; it would make it much easier.
He took off his jacket and draped it over the end of the bed, undoing the buttons on his polo to give himself more air. He kicked off his shoes and socks, laying back on the soft mattress, and after a second of deliberation, he took off his pants, too, setting them on top of his jacket. He laid back with a sigh, staring at the list of five items in the tutorial textbox.
This tutorial is to help you adjust to the interface of the accruing system. As each item is completed, it will be checked off, and when the last item is completed, the tutorial will end. As new abilities and powers are acquired, they will be explained by a brief tutorial. If, at any time, you need access to a tutorial again, simply think of the tutorial that you would like to access and it will be brought to you.
- Open the QUESTS window.
- Open the INVENTORY window.
- Open the TITLES AND ACHIEVEMENTS window.
- Open the PROGRESSION window.
Seems pretty straightforward. Alright, quests, quests. Probably the book and quill, if I had to make a guess. Jay focused on the symbol, and the to do list disappeared, replaced by a splitscreen textbox. Before he could read anything on the screen, another box popped up with text in all black.
This is the quests page! Every time you get a quest, it will appear here. Completed quests will be automatically moved to the bottom of the list and will appear greyed out. Failed quests will be moved to the bottom of the list, but will be marked in red. A description of all information related to the quest will be displayed to the right, while the name of the quest will be displayed on the left. All items and experience obtained through quests will be dispensed the moment the quest is finished. Items gained will immediately go into your inventory; EXP will immediately be applied.
Experience. That means leveling. I’ll have to keep an eye out for that. This box had a small X in the corner, which Jay pressed with his mind. It went away, leaving a Quests page that was completely empty. Jay clicked on the X in the corner again, which brought him back to the main page. The fist item on the to do list had been checked off, and the book and quill icon was now a solid white color. Alright, so I have to open every tab. Easy money. Let’s see, inventory is next, right? Bag with a string looks about right.
He clicked on it, which brought up a screen filled with small, separated boxes. There was a sorting function to the left, but before he could really look at it another box popped up.
This is your inventory screen! Recent changes to the system have allowed for infinite storage space instead of item/weight limits. Be warned! The types of items that will go into your inventory have not changed. Items can only be put into your inventory if they fit into all of these categories: if organic, not alive. If fluid, in a solid container that fits all of the fluid into it. The item must always be small enough for the user to lift and hold for a period of five seconds.
Oh fuck yeah, infinite storage space. Weight limits are the worst. Jay punched the air in silent celebration as he clicked the X button. The inventory screen was empty, obviously, as Jay hadn’t come in with anything or picked anything up. I wonder how it works. Do I just hold something and tell my inventory to take it? He reached out, grabbing the first pillow he touched, and held it to his chest, thinking hard about putting it into the inventory.
In an instant, the pillow disappeared from his hands, reappearing on the screen before him. He punched the air again, letting out a soft “Hell yeah!”. He ‘clicked’ on the pillow in the inventory screen, which told him that it was, in fact, a pillow. Okay, now, how do I get it out? Do I just think “hey, take that pillow out of my inventory”, and it’ll—the pillow, following orders, disappeared from the inventory and appeared a few inches above Jay’s face. After fighting with it in surprise, he grinned, delighted to have something so useful on hand.
The third button, the medal, pulled up a splitscreen that looked exactly like the one for quests, except this one had two tabs at the top. One was a curled piece of parchment; the other was a medal with a ribbon. He was on the parchment tab, which was labeled Titles, and he waited for the inevitable textbox.
This is the titles page! Here you will see all titles you have gained.
This page had one entry on it. The blurb to the left said OUTSIDER in all caps, and when he clicked on it, an explanation popped up to the right.
You are an Outsider! Outsiders are dead people reborn into a new world, who always carry the mark of their time outside of life.
There was no other text. I guess I’ll have to learn more for it to tell me more. Fair enough. He clicked on the second tab, titled ACHIEVEMENTS, and waited.
This is the achievements screen! Earning achievements can net you EXP, rare items, and occasionally permanent boons/curses. Be careful what you do out there!
Oh shit, curses? I’ll have to make sure I don’t get any of those. He closed the box, noted that he had exactly zero achievements, and exited the screen.
The last tab was called PROGRESSION, and when Jay clicked on it he saw what he had been waiting for since the quests screen: a skill tree. At the very center of the skill tree was a square that branched off into a dozen or more paths, but before he could look through them…
This is the Progression screen! Here you can see your level, how close you are to the next level, your current skills, and more! Each level will grant you SKILL POINTS which can be used to purchase new skills or upgrade current skills. Some skills will not be available unless prerequisite skills are acquired, and others will not be available until another skill is at a certain level. Skills can be reset with a Higher Potion of Amnesia.
Oh good, in case I pick the wrong stuff I can just reroll. Jay clicked off of the screen, staring at the level bar above the skill tree. It was currently empty, and his level was 0. Right. Starting fresh. The first skill in the skill tree, then, would be activated once he hit level 1; but what was it? It didn’t have any words on the square, but it did have a picture of an eye, open wide with little lines coming out of it. He clicked on it, curious, and another text box popped up.
Discerning Sight: when acquired, user will be able to target an object/creature. Targeted object/creature will be outlined, and a small informational blurb will be displayed. At level 1, the information displayed will be:
For objects, name and rarity. Objects that are being mimicked by Mimics higher than LEVEL 1 will show up as the object being mimicked. Objects that are trapped by a spell higher than LEVEL 1 will not show up as trapped.
For creatures, name and current status. Up to ONE title will be displayed at LEVEL 1. Stats (HP/MP/????) of any creature stronger than LEVEL 5 will show up as ????. Level of any creature stronger than LEVEL 10 will show up as ????. Up to ONE skill will be revealed for creatures up to LEVEL 5. Creatures that are being mimicked WILL NOT be revealed at this level.
Well shit. That is really handy. I’ll have to put a couple of points into that to level it up. Every other skill connected to Discerning Sight was marked with ????, which meant that to find out what they were, he would have to level up. He sighed. Always comes down to number goes up, doesn’t it?
Exiting out of the screen brought him back to the main screen, where a textbox read:
Congratulations! You have completed this tutorial. Remember, if at any time…
“Yeah yeah yeah,” Jay muttered, closing the textbox out. All of the symbols in his vision had stopped blinking, and there were no more boxes in his vision. He opened the Quests tab anyway, disappointed to realize there was no experience for completing the tutorial. Whatever. I’m sure getting to level 1 isn’t hard.
Now that he had exhausted his available distractions, the thoughts of his previous life came creeping back in. He closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of fresh linen, and let the tears come again. This time there were less of them, and when he was done he curled up on his side and stared out of the window, wondering exactly how easy it was going to be to live in this new world of his.