It was a lot to take in, but Aralynn caught on quickly. Most of it made sense- except for one thing: the whole "player" idea. That one still didn't sit right with her.
Another confusing part was the "controller" she was supposed to have. There was no information on it, and she couldn't figure out what it meant.
She learned that her stats were a way to measure her physical and mental abilities. According to the system window, the average adult human had a stat score of 10 in each category.
Skills, she discovered, were tied to those stats. For instance, if her dexterity was high, she could use Agility to move faster or perform acrobatic feats.
Armour points? They showed how tough she was to hit in battle, while hit points represented how much health she had left before she'd go unconscious. If she were attacked while unconscious… Well, that wouldn't be great, to say the least.
The last thing she needed to wrap her head around were her abilities. These were like supercharged skills that tied directly to her warrior class. For example, "Resurgence" was an ability that could heal her wounds in a pinch- though it had a long cooldown before she could use it again. Firearm God's Blessing was tagged as [Heroic], though she had no idea what it meant- there was no information regarding its function that Aralynn could find either.
Aralynn's thoughts were cut off by a small human boy who strolled up to her. "Hey, miss. Are you going to order anything?" he piped curiously. "You look like you're staring into space and allat… you aren't a mage, are you?"
Aralynn turned her head to look at him, then back at the window. He can't see the window, she realized. She closed the window- just to be polite. He stood about the same height as Aralynn when she was sitting down, and he wore the inn's uniform- a cozy brown shirt and apron.
So young, and working already? Aralynn thought. "No, sorry, little one. I don't have enough coins at the moment. And no, I'm not a mage," Aralynn smiled. "Just trying to figure out what to do next, at the moment."
He blinked. "If… you're looking to make a quick coin, you could always check our requests board. There's been problems with bandits recently, and, as always, there are other things worth doing." He pointed to a board on the wall next to the bar that Aralynn had missed. She could make out several pieces of parchment pinned to the board.
Eve reached forward and ruffled the boy's hair, and he giggled contentedly. "Thank you, dear." She stood and started walking across the tavern towards the board, somehow managing to weave through the noisy chaos with no incidents.
Arriving at the board, Aralynn skimmed over all the requests, and it appeared that not all requests were from the tavern itself- many were from miscellaneous people of the city presumably- a farmer on the outskirts looking for help tilling since they got injured, an artisan's guild hiring for people to find specific materials, etc. There were even some advertisements from local shops and eateries as well.
A lot of them were menial tasks that the posters simply didn't have time for, but her eyes settled on one. It was a request from the tavern to eliminate a band of bandits that had somehow evaded the city's guard for all this time. In the smaller print of the details, Aralynn read that they also had a hostage- a hobgoblin woman named Sena.
Aralynn's hands curled into fists and her piercing eyes narrowed. Why is it that the town's guard hasn't caught them yet? And why is it that it's the tavernkeep putting out the request instead of the town's guard? It smelled fishy. Aralynn continued reading.
Below, the reward was listed- 50 gold. Aralynn read that over and over. 50 gold. While it wasn't the most extravagant award, it was equal to 50 days of her salary as a soldier. I wonder how the tavern manages to pay that much… I guess I should probably look into it. While she wasn't the most qualified in hand to hand combat, she was more than proficient with her rapier, not to mention her revolver. Aralynn made up her mind and walked over to the bar.
The tavernkeep, a dwarf woman, smiled heartily as Aralynn approached, and spoke in the common tongue. "A pint, my dear? I do wonder how birdfolk fare with alcohol. I've heard that you're all lightweights." She laughed aloud to herself. Seeing Aralynn's strained expression, she quickly apologized. "Just a jest, my dear, just a jest. Can I get you something else?"
Aralynn responded in common. "Uhm… no, ma'am. I'm here because I want to take a request from the board… I read you were having trouble with bandits?"
The tavernkeep's eyes lit up. "Thank hephaestus. It's been terrible with them around- terrible for business, you know. It also makes me shiver at night, thinking about it. The town's guard hasn't done jack squat." She paused. "See, I would've spat, but I like to keep my tavern spick and span. Take a seat by that table- yes, that one there-" she gestured to a table with a couple people already sitting at it with her free hand- "You weren't the only one to pick it up. I hope you're okay with working with others?"
"Yes, ma'am." I'm okay with working alongside others rather too much, Aralynn thought. Oh well, it's just a job. It's not like I'll get attached and lose them again.
The dwarf laughed. "A polite one, aren't you? Don't worry about calling me madam. Call me Irene, like everyone else."
Aralynn smiled. "Thank you then, Irene."
"Of course. I'll be right with you all. Let me just call my husband to take my spot." She barked over her shoulder in a gravelly dialect, which Aralynn assumed was dwarvish. While Irene cleaned up the bar's counter, Aralynn strolled over to the table and sat down, respectfully inclining her head in greetings before scanning the table.
A hooded figure with horns, a half-elf bard, a dwarf wearing a full set of heavy plate, and a frogfolk.
Quite an interesting group I've gotten myself into…