Today was the big day. Soon, I would collect my upgraded gear from Tabby and then begin the long journey to Nessa, but before I did any of that, I needed to conduct a thorough self-inventory. If I were going to play this game properly, I needed to know exactly what skills and gear I was working with.

  Before diving into my inventory, I reviewed my skills and abilities. My most-used skill was Devastating Strike, which tripled the power of a blow from my weapon or even my hands and feet. I had used the skill so often that I had received a free upgrade and now had an additional 1% force multiplier effect.

  When I had unlocked Devastating Strike, I also earned Simple Distraction from an achievement related to killing a man before he could scream. It was morbid, but I liked the skill. With it, I could conjure up a random noise within twenty yards of me. It had saved my life once or twice already.

  The second ability I unlocked was Magic Be Gone, and it had saved my skin a few times already. It was a passive ability that caused the first magical attack against me to fail. Initially, the skill only worked once a day, but I had chosen to use one of my pending level-ups after leaving Danver to upgrade it, and now, it worked twice a day.

  Silent But Deadly was another one of my skills and a personal favorite, not just because of its hilarious name. It was useful, although I didn't always utilize it to its full effect. When activated, it muffled all my sounds for three seconds, and I could use it twice a day.

  When I reached Level Five, I had selected Close Combat Specialist, and I'm damn sure glad I did. The heightened combat awareness it granted made me feel like a Jedi, anticipating an attack before it had even begun. It was unfortunate how random it was, but I had already upgraded it once, so hopefully it would trigger more often in combat.

  The next skill I unlocked was Enshrouded, which covered me in shadow, making me nearly invisible in the dark. This skill allowed me to slaughter a few Kurskins in a dark alley and was vital for my survival. I would look to upgrade it eventually.

  At Level Eight, I had selected Quick-To-Recover because my sub-mind practically begged me to. I had been bleeding out at the time, so the choice made sense.

  I had two more level-ups available after Level Eight, but I didn't get around to them until I was far away from Danver. During our journey here, I managed to find the time to initiate those level-ups. For Level Nine, I upgraded Magic-Be-Gone, and for Level Ten, I selected a new skill called 'Speed Check', which granted me a ten-second burst of running speed, effectively doubling my speed. It would be helpful if I needed to make a quick getaway.

  Even after killing that giant, red-eyed frog, I still had a long way to go before I reached Level Eleven. But I'd get there soon.

  After going through my main skills and abilities, I reviewed all the achievements that had earned me some benefits and buffs. When Val made me fight those wolves for experience, I earned the Man Versus Beast achievement, which unlocked Primal Awareness. This passive ability gave me something similar to a spidey-sense when a predator was watching me. It had activated for me once so far, but the effect was honestly hard to notice.

  I also earned a Legendary Achievement called Nine Lives for escaping Sabbatha's cave by exploiting the inventory system. The quest Val sent me on had set me up to die, and I broke it, thus earning a special reward. I had used my Nine Lives ability at the end of my fight with Bhatri. It had saved my life, but it was a one-time use. There would be no more second chances for me.

  From the same fight against Sabbatha and the witches, I received the Hardheaded achievement, which made my skull a little stronger, and I earned the 'If You Can Dodge a Fire, You Can Dodge a Ball' achievement, which upped my reaction time by a millisecond or something negligible like that.

  I had gone some time without earning another achievement until I completed my first dynamic quest, which earned me the Storied achievement. It sent a breeze out to potential quest-givers, but I had Val, so that ability wasn't really useful for me.

  After killing multiple players in Danver, I received the Player Hunter achievement that unlocked the arena, an aspect of the game I had no intention of ever engaging in.

  And after defeating Bhatri, I earned the Underdog achievement and was rewarded with 100 gold pieces.

  That was the extent of my skills and achievements at this time.

  However, there were also Competencies.

  Currently, my unlocked Competencies were:

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  Trapper – Almost to Tier 1

  Firestarter – Now in Tier 2, and still useless for the most part.

  Hunting – Not yet Tier 1, but when I unlock it fully, it would supposedly lessen my scent.

  Brawler – I had achieved Tier 1 in this, thankfully, but my knuckles still ached like hell after a fight. I intended to get this particular Competency up to Tier 2 as soon as possible.

  Swordsmanship – I wasn't quite to Tier 1 yet, but one more sword fight should get me there. At Tier 1, my sword would weigh less in my hand.

  That was all the Competencies I had unlocked so far, and most were underwhelming; however, I saw how they could become formidable in higher tiers.

  As for weapons, I had the Elkhorn Dagger, which had belonged to Tara's uncle before I killed him. I also had another nasty dagger, the Bloodletting Ritual Dagger, that caused wounds to bleed more than usual. I intended to keep it in my inventory lest I cut myself with it and bleed out. Other than those named daggers, I had quite a few regular throwing daggers stored in my inventory.

  Beyond those weapons, I possessed the Sword of the Razor Knight, which was my current weapon of choice and could slice through most objects. I also had The Redoubter's Blade, which I had taken from Bhatri. It was an amazing weapon, but it would suit me better once I had more skills, since it increased how many times I could use them each day.

  In my inventory, I had some scrap armor, a few leather vests, and some half-decent pairs of boots, but they weren't good enough to replace the ones currently on my feet. I also had my Duelist Bracers, but I preferred to always keep them on as they increased my stamina during one-on-one combat.

  As I was going through my inventory, I noticed I had a lot of wolf meat, and it was still as fresh as the day I had butchered it. The stuff was disgusting, but since it didn't spoil in the quantum inventory, I saw no reason to throw it out. I had plenty of grain and dried foods stashed away, too, so I wasn't worried about starving.

  Oh, and how could I forget that I was carrying Sentir Bonum, the drug that Tara had been addicted to. I also had the Blood-Touched Bracelet from that same encounter with Sabbatha, although I had no intention of ever using it, as the healing benefits required me to drink blood, and that just wasn’t for me.

  There were a few more odds and ends I had gathered in my travels, or purloined from the Hunters’ Guild, but nothing special. Still, it was good to remind myself of everything I had at my disposal.

  After I felt like I had accounted for myself, I made my way to Tabby's. I was excited to see what modifications she made to my gear, but I was also hesitant to see her again. I had thought of her frequently since meeting her, but none of those thoughts were necessarily happy. However, they were motivational. Seeing a real person in this fake world reminded me that I had a job to do. I had already messed it up once because I let my hate for Triarchy get in the way of my reason. I had felt my burden was too much to bear, so I cursed others with it, and the results had been disastrous. I had to play to win, and two things needed to happen for that to become a reality. First, I needed to become powerful enough to take on a Voxal; second, Val needed to be recharged. Once those two goals were achieved, I just might have a chance at fighting back.

  Together, Val and I would make things right. We would make the Triarchy pay for their sins.

  The morning was growing late, but the air still felt crisp and smelled of dew. This time, when I reached Tabby's door, I knocked before opening it. Above me, the little bell rang, and just like last time, Tabby was nowhere to be seen.

  "Coming," I heard her call from the backroom.

  She soon appeared, looking as if she'd been at work for hours, but her beautiful features were unmistakable through the sweat and grime.

  "Morning," I said. "I've come to collect my gear."

  She smiled. "I worked hard on these, so you better have a good story for me."

  Tabby scampered away and returned with a rolling cart filled with various leather pieces. She grabbed one and set it on the counter between us. It was my leather jerkin, but it was stained a dark black, instead of the natural brown. On each side, four small sheaths ran along a strap, allowing me to have eight daggers on my body at once.

  "Wow," I said. "It's perfect. Better than I could have hoped for."

  "Did you notice this?" she asked, pointing to the base of the jerkin. On the left side, a wide leather strap had been sewn in, allowing me to carry a larger dagger near my waist.

  She turned the jerkin over, and there were two more dagger sheaths on the back.

  I raised a brow. "I don't know if I have enough blades to fill this out."

  She smiled. "Something tells me you'll find them."

  I rubbed my hands together. "I love it. What else do you have for me?"

  From her cart, she produced a genuine belt and sheath for my sword. Finally, I could carry the Sword of the Razor Knight on my hip without worrying about chopping my leg off.

  "Again, amazing work," I said, meaning it.

  "I have two more items for you," she said, sounding more excited than I was, which was saying a lot.

  On the counter, she placed something I didn't quite recognize. "What is it?"

  "Wear it on your thigh," she said. “The leather is strong enough to protect you, and there’s an extra sheath for another dagger.”

  "Can I try it on?"

  "Of course."

  I grabbed the armor and secured it around my upper thigh, a few inches above my knee. A rigid leather backing secured by eight straps protected my thigh almost up to my groin. On the stiff leather, a loop had been sewn to carry another dagger.

  "It's perfect," I said. "You weren't joking about knowing your business."

  "I don't joke," Tabby said, eyes twinkling. "Oo, one last thing."

  Tabby set another piece of armor on the table. "Your jerkin protects your shoulders, but your upper arms are exposed. This will fix that. Well, for one arm at least.”

  "I think I love you," I said, with a stupid smile on my face.

  Tabby blushed and waved my comment away. "I get that all the time. Comes with the work."

  "If all your work is like this, I'm sure that's true."

  She blushed again.

  "Thank you, Tabby. Seriously, you have no idea how much I needed this."

  "And now, I need one thing from you," she said. "Well, two actually. Payment and a story."

  I grinned. "I'm happy to oblige."