Homegrown System

Alice stopped Titus from scrolling when he hit an object of interest. "Damn it," she said. "The Wand of Fireball costs 20,000 credits. I don't know if I have enough to buy anything interesting."

Titus muttered, "You could try to negotiate, but I don't think you really need a Wand of Fireball."

"Yeah, but it would be nice to get something useful," Alice complained.

"Okay. Why don't you get some sort of healing pill or something like that?" Titus said. "It seems to be a number one necessity. I'm only bothering for something because my class needs one. I need some sort of enchanted weapon and preferably some sort of enchanted projectile."

He scrolled back up to where he'd been looking. "I've never fancied myself much of an archer, maybe a throwing spear or a pilum."

Alice squinted at the item he was pointing at. It was an enchanted pilum with a 40,000 credit cost. "What's a pilum?"

"Oh, it's an old Roman weapon. They would throw them en masse like an upgraded version of a javelin that the Greeks used to use. I think my [Primal Marksmanship] skill could work well with it. It sounds like it would turn an enchanted weapon into a volley. And this one's only enchantment is a recall. I mean, obviously not the best, but something I can reuse."

He selected it and clicked purchase. The pilum appeared in his hand. It looked like a giant lawn dart, almost exactly how he had described it.

"Nice." He passed it over to her, and she hefted it. It was heavier than she expected, but she could feel the enchantment buried deep inside.

"Huh. That's actually rather intuitive," she said. Instinctively, she knew how to use the item. Not that she could throw it properly, but if she did, she knew how to get it back.

"Yeah, I'll have to do some testing, but I'm happy-ish with it. I still have no idea how much a credit is worth." Titus scrolled down to some of the consumables and bought a couple of healing items.

Then he passed the open window over to Alice. She found that she could interact with it just fine. She looked at the wands a few more times before scrolling down and blowing her money on consumables. She got an invisibility talisman, single-use, a couple of healing pills, and a mana recovery potion. She only had a thousand credits left after those, so she purchased a bag that had an enchantment to keep glass unbroken to carry her items.

Titus looked at her with envy. "Do you mind if I store some of my stuff in there, too?"

Alice rolled her eyes and handed him the bag. "You can carry it, though.

"The System needs an inventory," Titus muttered as he placed his purchases in the bag. With that done, they left without saying goodbye to the shopkeeper.

***

"Where do we need to go?" Titus asked.

Alice pulled out her phone, checked a few things, then pointed across the water. "Unfortunately, it seems that your prediction about a sea appearing in front of us to block our way wasn't wrong."

"I don't seem to remember making that exact prediction."

"Exactly. You know what they say about jinxes," Alice quipped back.

Titus sighed. "I think you're reading more into this than there is. So we need to figure out how to cross the ocean."

"Well, I won't be surprised if it's a shorter trip than we expect, since the randomization seems to be smaller grain than entire oceans. But yeah, basically, we're almost halfway there," Alice said, looking up at the sun. It was just a little past noon, so maybe we could make it in another day and a half or so. "I really wish I knew how long the tutorial will take," she mused aloud.

Titus nodded. "Yeah. I imagine when people get back, it's going to get a whole hell of a lot more complicated."

"You think people will be back at E-grade?" Alice asked.

Titus frowned. "Hmm. Maybe. I would be surprised, though. They probably know a lot more about the System, but I think a lot of that stuff we've either been able to that they haven’t. Well, I don't want to say too soon and have them come back at, like, B-grade or something."

"Yeah. Fair enough," Alice said. "I think hopefully the tutorial will help prepare people for this, but I have a feeling it's not going to do a good enough job."

"Yeah, I think I agree," Titus said. "Anyways, crossing the ocean?"

"Yes," Alice agreed, nodding.

"Well, luckily, we seem to have an abundance of boats," Titus said, gesturing around. "How many people do you think it takes to crew a superyacht?"

There were a couple of large boats that looked like they could use a crew, but they decided on a nice 45-footer with a cabin and a head. They scrounged up enough supplies for a couple of days of travel. It had some bunks underneath, so if they needed to sleep out on the ocean, they could. With a little effort, they even managed to get one of the ATVs for beach rentals on board, along with an inflatable life raft to use for getting ashore.

A couple of hours later, Alice was relaxing on a deck chair with the wind fluttering her hair behind her as Titus stood behind the steering wheel. The warm Mediterranean sun made his olive complexion even more striking.

"You know, under other circumstances, this would be a very nice vacation," Titus said, yelling over the wind.

Alice nodded. "I've only ever seen boats like this in music videos and movies."

"Yeah, well, they're fun to use for a bit, but they're expensive to keep."

"You've owned a boat before?"

"I've owned many boats," Titus said. "It's true, the maxim about boat owning: the best day of a boat owner's life is when they buy their boat. The second best day is when they sell it. Better to just rent them. Might be more expensive, but it's not worth the headache to keep them. Not anymore, at least."

"I've never really had any interest in owning a boat. I think my dad did, but I don't really remember," Alice said.

"Do you remember your parents?" Titus asked vaguely.

"I was very young when they died," Alice said, surprising herself with her willingness to speak about it. Even her closest friends through college barely knew more than the fact that she hadn't talked to her parents in a very long time. "What about you?"

Titus hesitated. "I have the vaguest impressions. I remember my dad teaching me how to hunt," he said, "But it was a bit of a blur. My mom was gentle."

"Your dad taught you how to hunt?" Alice asked. "But you don't remember it. How old were you when they died?"

"I'm not sure," Titus said honestly.

Alice wasn't sure how to believe his earnest words. It was just one of many things that Titus did that didn't line up.

"What kind of hunting?" she asked instead.

Titus made a thoughtful noise. By now, Alice was good enough at reading Titus to tell that it wasn't that he didn't know the answer but that he was deciding whether or not to tell her. "You don't have to say if it bothers you," she said, giving him an out.

"No, it's okay," Titus said. "We learned mostly tracking and traps like snares, but also how to run down prey and throw a spear."

Alice blinked. "Um," she said, not knowing how to respond. "I— Uh, were you some member of an uncontacted tribe or something? Like, who hunts like that nowadays?"

Titus smiled. "Nothing quite that exotic, maybe, but my dad was a bit eccentric by your standards. I always felt like nothing he said was quite a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either."

"That's okay," she said. "Okay, maybe your dad was weirdly into Renaissance fairs or something. Medieval times, maybe.

"More like the ancient world," Titus said. "You could say he was really into the ancient world."

"Do you miss them?" Alice asked.

Titus shook his head. "I used to, but I've moved past it."

"I still miss my parents," Alice whispered as if she didn't want him to hear. "I barely knew them, and I miss them almost every day."

Titus looked at her. Thankfully, no pity marred his face, just a calm understanding.

"That will go away eventually," he said in a voice of complete certainty that she didn't even think to question. "But only once you start to make your own family. Choose carefully, because you can't undo that," he said with a sad and knowing smile.