Chapter 3: New Horizons

The achievement was a great boon to Jackson, but one he'd heard of before in fact, it was exactly the same. Most system prompts are unique to the user, but certain titles, skills, and some classes had the same text.

 

The title he had just gotten was well known, for a few reasons. It came about because of the first Demon King of Judgement, Asmodeus.

When he first came into power, the whole world was affected by his mana and... That would take too long to explain, let's just say he made anomalies appear. Anyway, the achievement was special in the fact that it showed progress to the next enhancement, which little achievements actually did.

But back to the matter at hand.

It had been a few days since Jackson left Domus, and Licentia, the capital of the city-state Libertas, was nearly in sight. Jackson was pretty much out of rations, and quite frankly, his legs were dying. From Domus to Licentia, the drive took about a day. Jackson had been on the road for a week. Walking on foot sucked.

I can't wait to have an actual bed to myself... Maybe I spare the food and mana to quicken my poor legs recovery.

His arm had gotten better, the skin all back with the scab having fallen off a day ago, which was way faster that it would take without the spell. His face still had the scab and patch job on it though. He had basic first aid training, but the bandage didn't look the neatest.

Speaking of sleep though, I need to figure out living arrangements, 5000 obols will only get you so far after all, and I can't necessarily sleep at an inn all the time... He let out a sigh. I guess I have a tent for a reason. But I'll allow myself at least one day of being at an inn. I'm so tired...

He shook his head out of those thoughts.

I think on it later. Licentia is coming up.

     

Jackson hated lines, he hated keeping self discipline, and the whole running away thing.

Why did there have to be a caravan today? Just buy a truck please, I know they're expensive but your horses will thank you later.

...How the heck did they carry THAT?

     

After the long wait, Jackson finally got to the front of the line that he heard was usually fast. He handed the guard his ID, which was not easy to get. he had to convince him to give him the liberty of having one, which was a hassle and a half.

Can I say again how much I hate lines?

It was a bit weird to have an ID at his age, but it wasn't that strange, instead of 16 he got one at 15. The guard let him in the gate without any problems though.

Jackson walked through the gates and took in the sights. He took a deep breath in and out, trying to release the sudden panic and feeling of vulnerability coming over him. He was alone in city he had only ever toured in. Nobody to care for him, or feed him. Just himself. He calmed his breath, breathing in, and out, and barely keeping himself together.

I'll get over it.

After finding a bench to sit and collect his thoughts at, he thought about his future.

An adventurer... What am I thinking? I'm not made for this... 

He shook his head. 

No going back now. I'll just have to wait till the 27th and hope I pass the test.

With a sigh, he stood up and headed towards an inn. Only to realize he didn't know the city's layout past  few landmarks.

Great...

As he walked around, he picked up many delectable scents, as well as beautiful sights. He stared at a family walking their dog, a little girl bounding after the puppy and giving it plenty of attention. then in the corner of his eye, a couple caught his attention, they were lovingly gazing into each others eyes. Then, passing by a restaurant with outside seating he spotted two people who looked related, just chatting and having the times of their lives.

It made him feel happy, like he was just a bit lighter in the chest, although, he was very much aware of how envious he was.

It would be nice, but... He couldn't help but sigh. I don't get such nice things.

As Jackson walked out of ear shot, a brother said to a sister.

"Hey, did you hear that Braveheart is visiting Licentia?"

     

After an awkward time asking for directions he headed towards the nearest inn.

An Arm and A Keg?

Heh, I like whoever named this place.

He walked in and understood why the name was called that. The innkeeper was an older man with one arm.

Oh.

He walked up to the innkeeper, to ask for a nights stay, but the innkeeper talked first.

"Sorry, I can't serve alcohol to you young folks."

Jackson's complete inability to talk to people kicked in right then and there.

"Oh- yeah um, I'm actually here to stay the night- well if this is actually an inn- is this an inn?"

The old man just chuckled.

"Yes, it is. What's your name kid?"

"Uh- it's Jackson." he almost whispered under his breath.

"Sorry didn't catch that, I don't hear how I used to."

"It's Jackson."

The man, almost chuckling, pulled out a pen and paper

"Alright, Jackson how many days would you like to stay?"

     

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Jackson wished he could curl up into a ball and die. No, just stop existing all together.

God that was so embarrassing. Just thinking about it makes my face red.

Right now he sat on a nice bed that helped to calm him down. In fact, it calmed him down so much that he fell asleep in just about 15 minutes.

     

This was supposed to be a new start wasn't it? Why didn't he feel anything about it? All he felt was empty and scared. He was supposed to be happy but his over thinking mind screwed him over.

Right now he was on the floor of his room calming himself down from a panic attack.

This... I did this for a reason. I did this to be happy. Get up. GET UP!

He forced himself to stand up and had mostly calmed his nerves after taking a shower and going through the entirety of a normal persons daily routine for the first time in about a month.

Shower? done. Brushed teeth? Done. Brushed hair? Done. Now, eat food.

He walked to the bar and tried his best to make proper sentences without stuttering. Thankfully, it was better than yesterday. 

After finishing his food, which was delicious, he left a tip and left the inn.

For all the things he'd done today that were comparatively great tasks to his old life, he only had one thought.

I NEED to be better.

     

He had resolved that until his birthday, he'd camp outside the city. The forest was relatively safe, even if saying that brought back bad memories, but it was a good place to train himself, and frankly he needed a lot of training. 

 

I could get to first enhancement now If I used my stat points... But that's a waste.

Getting every stat to 15 isn't too hard without using free stat points, let alone 10, which is first enhancement.

It'll take a year, at most. Maybe... Around 3 months at least. Made ten times more easier with Minor Injury Recovery. It taking just above a year to learn is finally paying off. 

The spell used the bodies resources to repair wounds faster by speeding the bodies metabolism and repairing the wound fast with magic to help guide natural healing. Most healers learn this spell because it's relatively low mana usage, mainly to help stabilize a patient when low on mana. It was also in essence "the first step" when it came to healing.

At Least Vitality and Recuperation are covered. Thanks Genetics. That achievement helped me along a good bit too

Jackson's family was blacksmiths, and had naturally high Vitality and Recuperation. It wasn't the only reason for his high Vitality though. He shook his head clear of those thoughts. It was shopping time right now.

     

After numerous stops, he finally felt prepared. He just wanted to get some books and he'd be on his way.

I have a spicket, tent, pot, clothes...

He went over his whole list of camping supplies. Missing something like a water purifier could be deadly. He had filters, and would boil the water after too. There was a river which he'd camp near, so he'd be good on water.

He shook his head free of his thoughts.

Book time! Books books books…

He quite liked books actually, his sub class being dedicated to learning sure helped. Classes were real interesting to him. You can get any class, even one's unique to yourself! But you had to be interested in a class to get it easily. The system really rewarded being yourself. Which brought on other thoughts li- he shook his head. He was getting off track again.

Right, books.

He was looking for a few books, a forest survival book, any book for entertainment (it was sure to get boring), and most importantly, a grimoire. He would need a good spellbook if he wanted to be let in the guild at his young age.

He opened the door to the "Just One More Chapter" and a tiny bell jingled.

"Oh, hi there! If you need anything be sure to let me know!" A bright sounding lady said.

"Oh, thank you!"

He had no Idea where a grimoire would be, but well... He started looking.

He was too embarrassed to ask.

     

The bookstore was relatively small so it didn't take too long to find everything. All he had left to find was a grimoire.

But... They were all so expensive.

He had funds for it yeah, but he didn't want to sleep in the forest for forever. He was no druid.

All the Grimoire's were enchanted which dramatically increased their price. He actually had a kids grimoire when he was 9, it was a birthday gift with no enchantments, but it was his favorite gift he had ever gotten. It had very low level spells you could look up online, but that was what he needed right now.

I wonder if... Woah! They actually have it!

Content with having a magic book for kids, he bought the books and left the store.

This... This was it. He'd have to do his best. He knew what he was doing was dumb, running away, thinking he could get strong from a few weeks training in the forest. He knew it was dumb, but he couldn't go back, he didn't want to.

His dad...

He...

Did he hate him?

He'd figure it out, but he wouldn't want to stay with him a moment longer. Running away wasn't the right choice, but he felt it was the best one he could make.

But for all he knew, he could be a dumb teenager who was about to die in a forest.

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